Traffic was suspended on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway early on Saturday after heavy rainfall triggered multiple landslides and shooting stones in the Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.
The 270-km highway, the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country, was blocked at over half a dozen places between Nashri and Banihal, they said. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) have mobilised men and machines to clear the highway for one-way traffic, officials said.
Traffic on the highway has been restricted to one-way since February 26 and was being used alternatively from Jammu and Srinagar after heavy rains and snowfall damaged the arterial road at several places last week.
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According to the meteorological department, Banihal recorded the highest 74.4 mm of rainfall in the past 24 hours, ending around 8.30 am on Saturday. It said snowfall in high-altitude areas and rains in the plains will continue at most places in the Union territory. The weather is likely to improve gradually on Saturday night.
