Umaisar Gull Ganie
Qazigund, Oct 16: What should have been a routine journey between Qazigund and Ramban has turned into a nightmare for commuters, with severe traffic snarls plaguing the Jammu–Srinagar National Highway. The road remains heavily congested, and journeys that once took 4–5 hours are now stretching to 10 hours, commuters said.
Commuters told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that the highway has been brought to a halt from Qazigund to Udhampur. “Massive traffic jams have brought movement to a near standstill,” said a passenger, adding that the gridlock is being described as the worst of the season.
A passenger travelling from Srinagar to Jammu said, “We left at dawn, but we barely moved a few kilometres before being stuck for hours. This is unacceptable.”
Ashiq Imtiyaz, a daily commuter at Qazigund, said, “Every evening we get stuck due to traffic jams. This has been happening for the past two months. If this is the condition on the national highway, what can we expect from internal routes?”
Truck drivers, who are already under pressure, said the delays are mounting costs. “The double-lane claim exists only on paper. We are driving on single lanes, especially from the Ramban to Udhampur sector,” one driver said.
Beyond commuter agony, the traffic paralysis is hurting the local economy. Kashmir’s apple growers are already facing losses due to delays in dispatching produce, as excess time on the road can spoil fruit and increase logistics costs.
“It takes two to three days before trucks get the green signal from Qazigund towards Jammu. We have no option but to wait,” a truck driver said, adding, “You can see trucks lined up for kilometres. When one vehicle stalls, there is no turning back. Both sides get jammed.”
The highway remains single-lane at multiple locations, which worsens the situation.
Officials said overtaking, wrong-lane driving, heavy truck breakdowns, and the movement of nomadic flocks have further contributed to the chaos.
“There is too much pressure on the highway from the Qazigund side as the road gets filled with apple-laden trucks too quickly,” an official said.
An NHAI official told KNO that restoration work on damaged stretches of the Jammu–Srinagar Highway in Udhampur has been completed.
“Two-way traffic movement for light motor vehicles has been restored. Repairs and blasting along the road have eased congestion on the crucial Jammu–Srinagar corridor,” he said, adding that monitoring and maintenance teams are stationed along the highway to ensure smooth operation.
Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Ramban Mohammad Alyas Khan convened a meeting to review the progress of widening work on Nashri to Banihal stretch of the National Highway-44 (NH-44) project.
The meeting was attended by Project Director NHAI Shubam Yadav; Assistant Commissioner Revenue Shokat Hayat Mattoo, and other officers.
The DC held a detailed, site-wise review of the work progress on different segments of the project, including Viaducts, Tunnels, Cut-and-Cover tunnels and approach roads. He directed the NHAI authorities and construction agencies to accelerate the pace of work and ensure completion within stipulated timelines while maintaining the highest standards of engineering quality and safety.
Khan called for ensuring uninterrupted vehicular movement and directed the concerned agencies to clear all bottlenecks, particularly those affecting the free flow of traffic on the existing highway. He instructed NHAI to remove debris, maintain road shoulders and restore double-lane carriageways at critical locations to enhance road safety and passenger convenience.
In view of the recent heavy rainfall, cloudbursts, floods and landslides, the Deputy Commissioner directed the executing agencies to carry out immediate restoration and upgradation works at all affected sites between Nashri and Banihal to prevent further disruption and ensure public safety. (KNO)
