Jammu-Pathankot, Jammu-Srinagar Highways among Roads closed due to Landslides, damaged Bridges

Jammu, Aug 26: Heavy rain in the Jammu region has disrupted normal traffic movement as the Jammu-Pathankot and Jammu-Srinagar national highways, as well as several inter-district roads, have been closed due to landslides, swollen rivers, and damaged bridges.
A landslide on the route to the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine atop the Trikuta hill on Tuesday afternoon killed at least six people, while several were feared trapped. Also, four people were killed in Jammu’s Doda district in separate rain-related incidents.
Traffic on the Jammu–Pathankot National Highway was suspended near Vijaypur in Samba after a pillar of the bridge on the Devak river collapsed, a police officer said.
“We have stopped traffic from both the Jammu and Kathua sides. Traffic is completely shut on this highway for the time being,” SSP Traffic Rural Jammu Girdhari Lal Sharma said.
As a result, hundreds of trucks and light motor vehicles are stranded at various points along the highway.
Movement of heavy motor vehicles on the Jammu-Pathankot highway has been stopped from both directions due to heavy flow of water in the Basanter Khad, Iarnah Khad, Ujh river, Sahar Khad, and incessant rains in Jammu, Samba, and Kathua districts over the past two days, officials said.
The Jammu-Srinagar National Highway also remains closed due to landslides and shooting stones at several places. The highway from Jammu to Udhampur is also blocked at multiple points due to landslides.
The main Bikram Chowk-Dogra Chowk bridge and the Fourth bridge in Jammu city were also closed on Monday evening, following a rise in the flow of water in the Tawi river, they said.
A portion of the connecting road to the Fourth Tawi bridge caved in. As a result, four vehicles fell into the gorge underneath, but no one was injured. Several inter-district roads in the Jammu region remained blocked following heavy rains, landslides, and flooding.
The Bani-Basohli road was closed at Sukha Nallah, the Basohli-Mabanru road at Dhani, the Mahappur-Kathua road at Peddy Nallah, and the Qiala Chak-Ramkote road near Kali Mata Mandir in Galak. The Srinagar-Sonamarg-Gumri road has also been closed for vehicular traffic due to a landslide near Bajri Nallah, officials added. Authorities have advised people to avoid travel until the weather improves and roads are cleared.
Jammu city recorded more than 250 mm of rainfall in the last 20 hours. As a result, several rivers are flowing above the danger mark.
The Tawi river in Udhampur is flowing at 36.1 feet. This was 13 feet above the evacuation level and four feet above the highest ever level recorded during the 2014 floods. In Jammu, the river is flowing at 34 feet, which is 11 feet above the evacuation level and one foot above the 2014 record.
In the Samba district, the Basanter river is flowing at 9 feet, its highest ever level and well above the evacuation mark. The Devak River is above the danger mark of 4.3 feet, only six inches below the evacuation level.
In Kathua, the Tarnah river has reached the danger level of 4.6 feet, while the Ujh Nallah at Panjtirthi and Kathua is flowing above the evacuation mark. The Ravi river is flowing close to the danger level.