Major highways closed, Amarnath yatra suspended

Umaisar Gull Ganaie/ Raja Syed Rather

Srinagar, Jul 28 : The Jammu-Srinagar, Srinagar-Leh highway were closed on Thursday after heavy rains triggered landslides at various places along the route.

The inclement weather conditions also lead to the suspension of ongoing Amarnath Yatra.

Due to heavy rains on Wednesday night, massive landslides blocked the national highway in Ramban district of Jammu region, a senior police official told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO).

The landslides forced the authorities to suspend the passage of devotees to annual Amarnath Yatra towards holy cave in south Kashmir from Jammu base camp.

“Work on clearance of roads is going on and the highway is expected to reopen soon,” the official said.

Meanwhile, the Srinagar-Leh highway was also closed for vehicular movement after fresh mudslides, triggered by rain occurred at Kullan Gund area in Central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district.

The traffic is diverted through link road at Kullan.

“Men and machinery have been pressed into service to restore the highway”, official said.

However, the traffic on Mughal road was plying normally when the report was last filed—(KNO)