- LoC trade, Pattan-Baramulla rail service suspended
- IUST postpones exam; KU, CUK to take call today
Kashmir valley remained cut off from the rest of the world for second day Thursday as traffic on the arterial Srinagar-Jammu highway remained suspended due to fresh snowfall, landslides and shooting stones at several places.
Meanwhile, the air traffic at Srinagar airport remained suspended till 2 pm. Heavy rainfall also forced railway authorities to suspend train services from Pattan to Baramulla due to stagnation of water on rail tracks and embankments. The cross-LoC trade via Salamabad-Chakoti route also remained suspended in view of inclement weather.
Notwithstanding the opening of Chenani-Nashri road tunnel recently, traffic on the highway usually gets disrupted due to landslides between Ramban and Ramsu.
Traffic police officials said due to fresh landslides and shooting stones at various places on Ramban-Banihal stretch, the vehicles were not allowed on ply.
Speaking to Kashmir Post SSP, Traffic, Rural Kashmir, Aijaz Ahmad Bhat said: “We had allowed one-way traffic on Wednesday afternoon but could not release the traffic properly because of landslides at many places like Sherbibi, Ramsu, Panchal on Banihal-Ramban stretch. So we had to stop traffic midway. And many vehicles were stranded.”
“There were fresh landslides at many places in addition to landslides which occurred yesterday due to incessant rains,” Bhat said adding that it was unlikely to allow the traffic to ply.
Hundreds of Kashmir-bound vehicles carrying essentials were stranded at different places, including Jammu, Udhampur and Nagrota due to closure of the highway. Similarly, large numbers of trucks and oil tankers besides other vehicles remained stranded on this side of the Jawahar tunnel.
Project Director, Srinagar, National Highway Authority of India, GhulamQadir said regular landslides and shooting stones were hampering restoration of the highway.
“Our men and machinery are on job but till there is improvement in weather it would be difficult to say when the road could be cleared,” Qadir said.
He said safety of workers was also a concern owing to landslides and shooting stones.
“The clearance process is going on but until the rain stops it is difficult to reopen the highway,” Qadir said.
Meanwhile, snow clearance work on historic Mughal Road was badly affected due to fresh snowfall. The road was likely to reopen on April 15 after remaining closed for the past four months.
Snow clearance on Srinagar-Leh highway was also hampered at Zojila Pass. The highway was closed in December last year and fresh snowfall could delay its reopening.
Bad weather led to cancellation of 10 flights. Director Airport Authority of India (AAI), Srinagar, Sharad Kumar said most of the flights were delayed while some had to be cancelled. “Five incoming and five outgoing flights were cancelled owing to the bad weather,” he said.
Superintendent of Police, Srinagar Airport, Manzoor Ahmad said: “No flight could take off till 2 pm due to bad weather. The operation was resumed after weather condition improved. Some 15 flights arrived at the airport and 9 of them flew back. The boarding and de-boarding process of 6 more flights is still going on.”
Heavy rainfall also forced railway authorities to suspend train services from Pattan to Baramulla due to stagnation of water on rail tracks and embankments.
“The train service was functional from Pattan to Banihal but the service remained suspended from Pattan to Baramulla as the water stagnation caused weakness in rail embankments so it became unsafe for train service,” a rail official said.
The service is likely to be restored in coming days subject to the improvement in weather condition, he added.
Meanwhile, the cross-LoC trade via Salamabad-Chakoti route was also suspended due to landslides and shooting stones at many places.
President Salamabad Traders Union, Hilal Turki said the decision to suspend the trade was taken in the morning due to bad weather.
“Due to continuous rains and landslides at Red Bridge the trade was suspended,” Turki said.
He said the decision to allow trade would be taken depending on weather condition.
Meanwhile, In view of inclement weather conditions, authorities closed schools and colleges in Valley for three days while Universities deferred the examinations.
The authorities today ordered closure of schools and colleges after incessant rains and unexpected snowfall triggered flood-like situation in the Valley.
The schools and colleges in Valley will remain closed till Sunday, Director School Education Kashmir (DSEK) Kumar Rajiv Ranjan told Kashmir Post.
He said the educational institutions in Machil and Tanghdar areas have also been closed.
Private Secretary to Vice chancellor Islamic university of Science and Technology, Ajaz Qureshi, told Kashmir Post that examinations scheduled for tomorrow and tomorrow have been postponed.
He said new dates will be notified separately.
The campus will remain closed in view of bad weather condition, Qureshi said.
He, however, said walk-in interview in the IUST will be held as per schedule.
Kashmir University spokesperson Faheem Aslam told Kashmir Post that in view of flood threat and complaints by students about non availability of transport, the university authorities have not decided yet whether to postpone of tomorrow’s examination or not.
“If the weather does not improve till tomorrow, then we will postpone the examinations scheduled for Friday,” he said.
The last date for submission of PG entrance examination forms of Kashmir University has been extended.
Deputy Registrar Central University of Kashmir (CUK), Dr S IqbalQuraishi, said no examination was scheduled for today.
He, however, said examinations scheduled for Friday will be conducted.
“If it is decided to postpone exams in view of inclement weather, students will be notified accordingly,” Qureshi said.
Registrar CUK, Prof M Afzal Zargar told Kashmir Post in case transport facility was not available to the students, then they will provide transport services to them.
“The flood threat is looming large and if the weather condition does not improve then we will take a decision tomorrow whether to conduct the exams or not and students would be accordingly notified,” he said.
