Pilgrims crosses the mountains as they move towards Amarnath Holy Cave Shrine. (Press Trust of India)
More than 2,000 passenger vehicles, including 68 carrying Kashmir-bound Amarnath pilgrims, have been left stranded on the Jammu-Srinagar National highway, following its closure due to massive landslides at several places triggered by overnight rainfall.
"The Jammu-Srinagar National highway has been closed and the Amarnath Yatra halted due to massive landslides at several places trigged by the heavy overnight rainfall," SSP Traffic (NH) Sanjay Kotwal told PTI.
He said that around 68 vehicles carrying the Amarnath Pilgrims have been asked to stop near Kud and Patnitop stretch of the Highway to ensure their safety and security.
"Today the traffic was from Srinagar to Jammu so around 1,000 vehicles from the valley are left stranded on the Highway and similar number of Jammu to Srinagar vehicles have been left stranded on the highway at several places," Mr Kotwal said.
He said that the men and machinery of the Border Road Organisation (BRO) was working round the clock to restore the road connectivity between the Kashmir Valley and rest of the country.
"Our men have been working to ensure that the highway gets restored within next few hours," Mr Kotwal said.
This is the second time in the last 24 hours that Jammu-Srinagar national highway was closed following heavy rains across the state.
On Thursday, the highway was closed at 3 AM following heavy rainfall, due to which the yatra was halted. The highway was thrown open after remaining closed for several hours.
"Yesterday, we opened the highway for vehicular traffic after it was closed due to early morning landslides. Today again it was closed due to fresh landslides," he said.