Amarnath yatris among those stranded on Kashmir highway

Srinagar, July 2 (UNI) The first batch of 2356 Amarnath pilgrims and other passengers, who left Jammu earlier in the day are stranded on the 300-km-long Srinagar-Jammu national highway which has been closed due to landslides between Ramban and Ramsu, triggered by heavy rains.

A traffic police official told UNI that Border Roads Organisation (BRO), responsible for the maintenance of the highway, have pressed into service sophisticated machines and labourers to clear the road.

According to officials, 73 vehicle carrying 2356 pilgrims, including women, children and sadhus, had left Jammu this morning for Nunwan Pahalgam and Baltal base camps.

This was the first official batch of Amarnath yatris after the pilgrimage, scheduled to start from June 30, was delayed by two days due to heavy rains on both traditional Nunwan and shortest Baltal route for two consecutive days, making the track slippery and dangerous.

Traffic official said the yatri vehicles are also stranded on other side of the Penthal, the most troubled spot on the highway, linking the Kashmir valley with the rest of the country.

Once the green signal will be received from the traffic officials and BRO posted on the highway, the vehicle carrying yatris would be allowed to move towards their respective camps, the official said.

According to Police Control Room (PCR) here, a road strip of about two km has been affected due to landslides and shooting stones.

Besides yatris, about 5000 vehicles carrying passengers, essential commodities from Jammu and fruits and vegetables from Kashmir are stranded on either sides of the highway.

The entire Srinagar-Jammu highway experienced heavy rains for the past 24 hours, triggering landslides and dislodged stones rolling down.

The highway had remained closed for about a month in February-March this year after a mountain near Penthal was sinking.

UNI