Zojila road in J&K to open from Saturday

Srinagar, March 18

The Zojila road in Jammu and Kashmir will open from Saturday from Sonamarg to Kargil and cut off timing for vehicles to cross Sonamarg will be 6 a.m. in the morning and from Meenamarg, Kargil the cut-off timing shall be 8.30 a.m., an official said on Friday.

Traffic will be allowed only on alternate days.

Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Vijay Kumar Bidhuri on Friday visited Ganderbal district where he convened a meeting of officers for managing the opening and closure of the Zojila Pass in Jammu and Kashmir.

"At the outset, all the issues concerning the road opening were discussed threadbare including the condition of the road, Snow clearance, and it was decided that the road will only be open for Light Goods Vehicles (one-way), and no passenger/tourist vehicles shall be allowed," a statement noted.

The road opening date was decided to be March 18 from Sonamarg to Kargil, and the cut-off timing for vehicles to cross Sonamarg will be 6 a.m. in the morning and from Meenamarg, Kargil the cut-off timing shall be 8.30 a.m.

Besides, it was decided that traffic will be allowed only on alternate days.

It was also decided in the meeting that on Fridays no traffic will be allowed, and the road will be closed for maintenance purposes.

"The Divisional Commissioner also directed the officials from MeT for the advance forecast of the weather and asked the Traffic dept for issuing the same weather advisories on time. The BRO authorities were also directed to give road clearance on time so that traffic will cross the road before the avalanche-prone timing," the statement said.

--IANS