Tunnel closed for repairs, commuters inconvenienced

Tunnel closed for repairs, commuters inconvenienced Archit Watts/TNS

Jammu, October 8
Commuters on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway 1A had a harrowing time today, as the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) closed one tunnel at Nandini village, about 30 km from here, to carry out repair work.
Long queues of vehicles were seen on the highway, as the tunnel meant for traffic from Srinagar to Jammu was closed in the wee hours today.
Though NHAI officials allowed traffic to move through another tunnel, commuters were inconvenienced.
A huge traffic jam increased the journey from Jammu to Srinagar by almost two hours, which normally takes eight hours.
“After crossing Nagrota there was a traffic jam, as vehicles were stranded. Though the authorities were allowing the vehicles to move through another tunnel by blocking traffic from the other side after repeated intervals, the huge rush of vehicles made the situation worse,” said Dharam Parkash, a resident of Jammu, who was travelling to Srinagar.
The highway is the only surface link between the Valley and the rest of the country. The pilgrims, who come from other states to pay obeisance at the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine have to pass through this tunnel to reach Katra.
MK Jain, in-charge of the NHAI, Jammu and Kashmir, said, “The floor of one tunnel was badly damaged during the monsoon recently. So, we closed it for vehicular movement this morning to construct a concrete floor. It won’t get damaged easily now.”
Jain added, “The entire exercise will take nearly 24 hours and after that it will be thrown open to traffic. The highway is open as the second tunnel is being used for two-way traffic.”