In Jammu and Kashmir, the 270 km long Jammu-Srinagar National Highway (NH 44), the only all-weather surface link which connects Kashmir valley with the rest of the country remained closed for vehicular traffic for the forth consecutive day today.

The highway was closed for vehicular traffic on Saturday following incessant rains that triggered multiple landslides at several locations and also severely damaged a portion of the road near Panthiyal Tunnel and Chamba-Seeri in Ramban district, leaving thousands of vehicles stranded.

A 60-metre strip of road was washed away near Panthiyal tunnel resulting the closure of the national highway.

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) is working round the clock at Chamba-Seeri and is working on an alternate alignment to ensure early restoration of the road.

The restoration work will take some time and the stranded vehicles will be cleared on priority once the road is made motorable. However, no fresh traffic will be allowed either from Jammu or Srinagar till the clearance of the stranded vehicles.

The traffic is likely to resume on the national highway tomorrow.