The strategic Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, a vital arterial lifeline for Kashmir’s connectivity with the rest of India, is expected to reopen only after six days of massive restoration work, following extensive landslides triggered by torrential rain in Ramban district.
The landslides, which hit the region over the weekend, have left approximately 300 vehicles stranded and forced several travellers, including tourists and newlyweds, to walk up to six kilometres through sludge-covered terrain to continue their journeys. Officials from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) confirmed that a 4-kilometre stretch between Seri and Marog remains the most severely impacted. Debris as high as 20 feet has buried machinery and damaged road sections at more than a dozen locations. An NHAI project official said the agency has mobilised private contractors and deployed equipment at 20 points along the damaged route. However, the clearance and reconstruction depend heavily on favourable weather conditions in the days ahead.
Sunday’s downpour triggered a series of landslides and flash floods, claiming three lives, including two minors, and displacing over 350 people in the hilly district. While the rainfall eased briefly on Monday morning, intermittent showers returned in the afternoon, hampering rescue and repair work. The disruption has brought critical attention to the fragility of existing road infrastructure in ecologically sensitive terrain like Jammu and Kashmir. The Jammu-Srinagar highway, despite being classified as an all-weather corridor, continues to be frequently rendered impassable due to natural events. The highway’s vulnerability underscores the urgent need for climate-resilient infrastructure investment, especially as weather patterns grow increasingly erratic under the impact of global climate change.
Recognising this need, the government has already announced plans for a tunnel on the Mughal Road – another key connection between Jammu and the Kashmir Valley – to ensure year-round traffic between the regions separated by the Pir Panjal range. The Mughal Road, which had reopened on April 15 after three months of closure due to snow, was briefly shut again on April 18 following a fresh spell of snow. However, officials from the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) have since restored this route, now serving as a critical alternative. Authorities initially intended to allow only one-way movement – from Kashmir to Jammu – on the Mughal Road. But with the national highway inoperative, traffic has now been permitted in both directions. Additional police forces have been deployed to regulate and monitor traffic flow and prevent congestion.
Amidst this infrastructural crisis, the lived reality of those stranded has been sobering. With vehicles buried under debris, hundreds of commuters have taken to foot, navigating the precarious terrain to reach transportation on either side of the landslide-affected zone. Local reports suggest that many tourists, already on tight schedules, opted to continue their journeys on foot rather than wait for mechanical clearance. The transport paralysis also raises larger questions about regional preparedness and emergency response frameworks in areas frequently hit by landslides and flash floods. Environmental experts argue that while natural events cannot always be avoided, their devastating impact can be mitigated through proactive infrastructure planning and by enforcing zoning regulations that prevent unchecked development in vulnerable zones.
In the wake of this disruption, calls are growing for an accelerated transition to more sustainable and climate-adapted road construction models. Public infrastructure built in the Himalayan belt must now meet not only the demands of connectivity and speed but also ecological resilience. The alignment of national highway projects with principles of environmental sustainability is no longer optional — it is a necessity. For now, commuters and transport operators are advised to rely on the Mughal Road or postpone travel. Officials maintain that every effort is being made to expedite the reopening of the highway, though the extent of damage indicates a prolonged recovery process.
The highway’s closure has once again spotlighted the urgent need for infrastructural foresight, multi-modal transport networks, and decentralised connectivity to reduce dependence on a single corridor in a region as strategically and economically significant as Kashmir.
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