NH-44 Closure: How Jammu–Srinagar Highway Shutdown Strangles Kashmir’s Supplies & Economy
By: Javid Amin | 06 Aug 2025
When Kashmir’s Artery Stops Beating
On September 6, 2025, the Jammu–Srinagar National Highway (NH-44) — Kashmir’s only all-weather surface link with the rest of India — remained closed for the seventh consecutive day. Landslides, washed-out stretches, and shooting stones in the treacherous Ramban–Banihal sector had brought the movement of vehicles to a standstill.
For the rest of India, a highway closure may sound like a temporary inconvenience. But for Kashmir, NH-44 is more than a road. It is the Valley’s lifeline. When it shuts, Kashmir doesn’t just face travel delays — it gasps for food, medicine, fuel, and business continuity.
This isn’t an isolated event. NH-44 has been shut dozens of times this year alone. Every closure sends shockwaves through homes, markets, farms, and hospitals. Apples rot in Pulwama’s orchards, petrol pumps run dry in Srinagar, and patients wait for medicines stuck on stranded trucks.
In the words of a shopkeeper at Lal Chowk:
“When NH-44 closes, Kashmir feels like an island cut off from the world.”
NH-44: More Than Just a Road
The Jammu–Srinagar highway — now officially designated as NH-44 — is the only all-weather road connecting the Kashmir Valley to the rest of India. Stretching nearly 270 kilometers from Jammu to Srinagar, it snakes through mountains, gorges, and rivers.
For Kashmir, it is:
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The food corridor: 70% of vegetables, pulses, and packaged goods arrive via NH-44.
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The fuel pipeline: Petrol, diesel, LPG, and kerosene are trucked in daily.
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The medicine route: Hospitals rely on daily shipments of life-saving drugs.
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The economic artery: Kashmir’s apple industry — worth over ₹10,000 crore annually — depends on this highway to reach markets in Delhi, Mumbai, and beyond.
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The strategic link: The Army and paramilitary forces depend on it for supplies and mobility.
When this artery clogs, the entire ecosystem — from households to hospitals, farms to factories — comes under stress.
Timeline of Closures
The September 2025 shutdown is not the first, nor the last. In fact, highway closures are now part of Kashmir’s seasonal rhythm.
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2025: August 30 to September 6 – Complete closure due to Ramban landslides.
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2024: NH-44 was closed for nearly 52 days across the year, mostly in monsoon and winter.
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2019–2023: On average, the highway was blocked for 40–50 days annually, according to traffic police records.
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2012 & 2014: Prolonged closures due to massive floods.
Each closure has the same fallout: shortages, panic buying, stranded vehicles, and a spike in prices. Yet, despite repeated promises, no permanent solution has emerged.
Economic Shockwaves of a Highway Closure
Food and Essentials: Prices Spike Overnight
The moment NH-44 shuts, Kashmir’s mandis reflect the shock. Vegetables that usually sell at ₹30/kg soar to ₹80–100/kg. Tomatoes, onions, and potatoes — staples in Kashmiri kitchens — vanish from shelves.
During the latest closure, wholesalers in Srinagar’s Parimpora mandi reported 60% fewer supplies than normal. Traders said trucks carrying fresh produce were stranded in Ramban, while local stocks dried up within two days.
“We had to sell tomatoes at ₹120/kg. Customers fought with us, thinking we were hoarding. But what can we do when trucks can’t reach?” — Bashir Ahmad, vegetable trader.
Fuel: The Valley’s Nervous System
Kashmir consumes nearly 1.2 million liters of petrol and diesel daily. All of it comes via NH-44. With every closure, queues at petrol pumps stretch for kilometers. Black marketing flourishes, with prices shooting up to ₹150/liter in the black market.
LPG, the main cooking fuel, runs out within days. Families are forced to cut rations or revert to firewood.
Medicines: The Silent Emergency
Doctors at Srinagar’s SMHS and SKIMS hospitals say that closures often disrupt the supply of critical drugs, including insulin, chemotherapy injections, and heart medicines.
In September 2025, several patients reported skipping doses because their medicines were out of stock. Private chemists said they had only two days of buffer stock.
“Highways close, but cancer doesn’t stop. Dialysis doesn’t stop. Yet patients are told to ‘adjust’.” — Dr. Sameer, oncologist at SKIMS.
Apples Rot, Orchards Cry
Kashmir’s apple industry depends entirely on NH-44 to ship its harvest south. A single day’s closure during harvest season can mean crores in losses.
In 2022, farmers reported losses of ₹500 crore due to delayed shipments. Apples stacked in trucks lost quality and fetched half the price in Delhi’s Azadpur mandi.
This year too, farmers in Shopian and Pulwama are nervous. With NH-44 closed, truckloads of apples are stranded, their sheen fading with every passing day.
Voices from the Ground: Stories of Survival
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Farooq Ahmad, Srinagar resident: “I parked my scooter at a bridge because water entered my lane. Traffic police fined me ₹500. Is survival a crime?”
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Shazia Bano, Budgam: “We had stocked only two LPG cylinders. Now the closure has left us cooking on firewood with kids coughing.”
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Ghulam Nabi, truck driver: “I’ve been stuck in Ramban for 8 days. We sleep in trucks, cook on roadside fires, and wait for roads to clear. Nobody cares.”
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Ali Mohammad, farmer in Shopian: “Every day of delay reduces my apple rate by ₹200 a box. Who will pay for our losses?”
These aren’t isolated cases. They form the everyday reality of highway closures.
Why NH-44 Fails So Often
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Fragile Geography: The highway cuts through the Pir Panjal mountains, where steep slopes and soft soil make it vulnerable to landslides.
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Heavy Rainfall: Monsoons and snowmelt destabilize slopes, while shooting stones frequently block stretches.
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Engineering Gaps: Despite tunnels and bypasses, drainage remains poor. Retaining walls collapse every year.
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Climate Change: More intense and erratic rainfall events are overwhelming existing infrastructure.
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Bureaucracy & Corruption: Projects to stabilize slopes and build tunnels are delayed for years, with little accountability.
Alternative Roads: Weak Substitutes
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Mughal Road (Rajouri–Shopian): Open only in summer. Narrow and prone to landslides.
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Zojila Pass (Srinagar–Kargil): Shut for nearly 6 months due to snow.
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Sinthan Top (NH-244): Still incomplete, prone to closures.
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SSG Road (Srinagar–Sonamarg–Gumri): Open in patches but weather-dependent.
None of these can replace NH-44 as a year-round lifeline.
Rail Link: The Waiting Game
The Udhampur–Srinagar–Baramulla Rail Link Project (USBRL), launched in 1994, was supposed to reduce dependence on NH-44. Thirty-one years later, it remains incomplete.
The Banihal–Katra stretch, considered the most difficult, is still under construction. Deadlines have been missed repeatedly, with the latest target being 2026. Until then, NH-44 remains the only hope — and the only choke point.
The Human Cost of Closures
Closures aren’t just about economics. They erode trust, dignity, and security.
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Families hoard supplies, deepening shortages.
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Students miss exams as travel plans collapse.
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Tourists cancel trips, hurting livelihoods.
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Children grow up seeing panic and queues as normal.
This repeated cycle of fear and scarcity scars the collective psyche of Kashmiris.
What Needs to Change — The Way Forward
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All-Weather Corridors: Double-tube tunnels at Ramban and Banihal must be expedited.
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Strengthen Mughal Road: Upgrade it into a parallel year-round lifeline.
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Rail Freight: Prioritize freight corridors in USBRL.
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Climate-Resilient Engineering: Invest in slope stabilization, drainage, and landslide prediction.
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Accountability: Transparent monitoring of road projects and contractors.
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Stockpiling Essentials: Build regional warehouses for food, fuel, and medicines.
Conclusion: Kashmir’s Choked Artery
The Jammu–Srinagar highway closure is not a weather story. It’s a governance story. Every closure highlights the Valley’s structural vulnerability and institutional neglect.
For 11 years since the 2014 floods, governments have promised resilience. Yet in 2025, a week of rain can still choke Kashmir’s lifeline.
Kashmir doesn’t just need roads. It needs trustworthy arteries that don’t collapse with every storm. Until then, every closure will remain a reminder: when NH-44 shuts, Kashmir suffocates.
