After weeks closer​ Highway opens for one way traffic, No livestock inspection point on new highway

The Srinagar-Jammu highway remained open for one-way traffic on Wednesday as around 3357 vehicles crossed over to Srinagar from Jammu.
IGP Traffic, Alok Kumar told Kashmir Post that the one-way vehicular movement had been restored from Tuesday.
“We allowed around 1500 trucks carrying essential commodities, cooking gas, petroleum to cross the highway till 5 am on Wednesday. In addition, 450 other vehicles also crossed,” he said.
Alok said, besides, all passenger vehicles that were stranded in Jammu including the trucks on the highway, especially at Ramban stretch, were allowed on Wednesday.
“There are load carriers stuck on the highway near the Udhampur stretch. We are trying best to allow the maximum number of load carriers to cross the highway. There was shooting of stones in the Maroog area. We hope no landslides will hit the highway,” he said.
Alok said there were around 1500 trucks carrying essential commodities on way to Srinagar.
“There should be no stranded vehicles on the highway as there is a prediction of widespread rain and snowfall,” he said.
The official of Ramban unit of Traffic department, Javaid Ahmad Khan told Kashmir Post that heavy trucks, LMVs, oil tankers, livestock trucks including the trucks carrying vegetables and other essentials have crossed the highway.
Khan said more than 1533 heavy trucks, 600 oil tankers and 650 to 700 trucks carrying essentials have crossed the highway since Wednesday morning.
He said though there were no major landslides but due to the shooting of stones at Maroog area, the vehicles were stopped for some time.
“There was a traffic jam on the highway for some time due to shooting stones, but later, it was restored,” Khan said

Meanwhile, A month ago, the Srinagar Municipal Corporation authorities said they would be setting up a facility along the new Srinagar-Jammu highway, where livestock-carrying trucks entering the Valley would be inspected for the health of the animals. Nothing has been done.
In fact, the SMC authorities on Wednesday again reiterated that the facility would be built “soon”, even though 1500 trucks laden with livestock and other essential commodities, which were stranded for the past seven days along the blocked highway, made their way into markets unchecked after the road reopened on Tuesday.

Last month, when the highway opened after several days, then commissioner SMC Peerzada Hafeezullah told Kashmir Post that an inspection point will be set up along the new highway “soon” to ensure that no dead sheep, which could have succumbed due to cold, end up in the markets.
However, as per traders, instead of round-the-clock checking, only a few officials can be seen deployed on the highway during day hours “collecting municipal fees” from truckers.
“Even though we have strictly asked drivers to destroy deteriorated goods and dead livestock there is no inspection of vehicles along the new highway,” said a mutton dealer, requesting anonymity.
Director sheep husbandry Kashmir Dr Mehraj-ud-din Rather had recently allayed the fears, saying the department has set up an inspection point at Zig Morth near Qazigund, where the dead sheep, if any, are mentioned in a driver’s challan by the officials.
A trucker has to furnish the challan at Athwajan, where the dead sheep are confiscated by SMC. However, no such monitoring system exists along the new highway between Qazigund and Srinagar. The bulk of the traffic plies on this highway now.
Mir Tariq Ali, who recently took over as commissioner, Srinagar Municipal Corporation told Kashmir Post that a checking point will be set-up “soon”.
“I have just taken over and will look into the issue. We will ensure that a checking mechanism is put into place,” Ali said.