The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) officials pulled an all-nighter to construct an alternate bypass for restoring traffic on National Highway-44 at Chabba Seri.
Along with this, work on restoring the portion of a road, which was washed in the torrential rains, was also underway simultaneously, the NHAI official informed.
“Work at Seri, Ramban, by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is underway to construct an emergency bypass to restore traffic on National Highway-44,” said Deputy Commissioner, Ramban.
Meanwhile, news agency ANI quoted Mohammed Jahangir, a local of the area, as saying that the roads have been washed away amid heavy downpours in the region and the administration had not made any attempts to rescue stranded tourists.
“We are facing a lot of problems. We are compelled to cover a significant distance on foot. Recently, a road was washed away during our journey. We had to walk around 1-2 kms in Makarkot and are now having to cover a further 3-4 kms on foot. As we reached Ramban, another road was washed away,” he told ANI.
“There are no arrangements for the public as well as visitors. The administration should stop people from coming to the Ramban stretch or else make necessary arrangements for them to proceed further,” Mohammed added.
Jammu-Srinagar National Highway closed
The Jammu-Srinagar National Highway continued to remain closed for vehicular traffic for the third consecutive day on Monday due to multiple landslides.
The officials also informed that the agencies are making efforts to ensure early restoration of the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country.
The 270-km-long highway has been closed to vehicular traffic since Saturday, leaving thousands of vehicles stranded.