National highway shuts as rain triggers landslides

The highway connecting the Kashmir valley with Jammu division and the rest of the country was blocked on Monday as the second day of rainfall triggered landslides at several places along its mountainous stretches.
A massive landslide blocked the highway early morning at the Seeri area of Ramban district, officials of the traffic department said. The officials said landslides also blocked the highway at “multiple places” following which traffic movement was not allowed till clearance operations were concluded.
The closure of the 300-km Srinagar-Jammu highway – which has stretches prone to avalanches and landslides —- snapped all surface connectivity between the Kashmir valley and the rest of the country. The highway had remained shut for lengthy durations during this winter, witnessing several spells of heavy snowfall back to back.
The latest shutdown of the highway was caused by intermittent rainfall which continued across the region for the second consecutive day today.
The downpour has been caused by the western disturbances, which is likely to cause further precipitation during the next 24 hours, the meteorological department said today in its mid-day bulletin.
The precipitation during the past 24 hours was light to moderate with Banihal town, gateway to the Kashmir valley and home to Jawahar Tunnel, receiving 37 mm rainfall, the weather department said.
Srinagar city, where the overnight temperature was recorded at a low of 5.8°C, received 4.1 mm rainfall during the past 24 hours.