Landslide triggered by snowfall affects rail and air routes in J&K

Vehicles stranded on the Jammu national highway on Thursday. (Source: Express Photo)

The landslide triggered by heavy snowfall killed a teenage girl and left 28 others injured along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway on Monday. Thousands of people including women and children were alos stranded along the highway as landslides disrupted road, rail and air traffic in the state for the last two days.

Sources said that a 17-year-old girl Sameena was killed after getting caught in landslides in Surankote on Sunday evening, while 28 passengers of an ill-fated bus got injured when the vehicle skidded off the road and fell into a gorge near Thandi Kassi in Rajouri district on Monday. Nearly half a dozen members of a family narrowly escape after their house was damaged due to landslides in Poonch on Monday morning.

Meanwhile, many of vehicles were lined along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway following the landslides and snowfall at various places since Sunday. Sources said that most of the vehicles that were allowed to ply to Jammu from Srinagar on Sunday were stranded between Chenani and Kheri as nearly 50 meters of road had vanished under landslide.

The passengers were stuck between Patnitop and Kheri as they were neither in a position to return to the Valley or proceed towards Jammu due to snowfall and landslides on both sides. Since Sunday night, they were staying in the vehicles as their transshipment to Udhampur was not possible in view of massive landslide near Kheri, they added.

Pointing out that the fresh landslides, which erupted late last night, also swept along with it a truck into the nullah. The driver and conductor of the vehicle, however, managed to escape unhurt.

Apart from Kheri near Udhampur, the Jammu-Srinagar national highway was also blocked due to at various other places including Ramsu, Gangroo and Maggarkote. There was also nearly two feet snow at Jawahar tunnel and nearly six inches at Patnitop.

The road from Batote to Doda and Kishtwar too was closed following landslides at some places, sources added. The Bhaderwah town was fully covered under thick blanket of fresh snowfall.

The rail service between Banihal and Baramulla, which was partially suspended on Sunday, fully went off the track due to heavy snowfall on Monday in Banihal and adjoining Valley. A number of families in Mahu Mangat area of Banihal were evacuated to safer places following threat of snow avalanche there.

The air traffic between Jammu and the Valley too was suspended in the morning due to poor visibility and bad weather conditions.

The Trikuta Hills near Katra also witnessed snowfall, but pilgrimage to Vaishno Devi shrine continued unabated. However, the rush of had come down considerably due to rains and snowfall, police said.

The road link to Poonch town from Surankote and Mendhar side was also snapped as the bailey bridge, which had been constructed by Army after the Sher-e-Kashmir bridge was washed away in floods during September last year, too got damaged due to floods in Suran river on Monday. The traffic on fourth bridge on river Tawi in Jammu was also suspended following damage to its embankments on one side in floods.

All the major rivers and nullahs in the region were in spate and there was no indication of improvement in weather conditions as according to local weather office forecast, the rains and snowfall was likely to continue on Tuesday as well.

Source:: Indian Express