3 soldiers killed in J&K highway accident

Jammu, May 4 (IANS) Three soldiers were killed in a road accident on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway in J&K's Ramban district on Sunday, officials said.

The soldiers were killed after an army vehicle rolled down into a deep gorge near the Battery Chashma in Ramban.

"The driver lost control of the wheel and the vehicle dropped into a gorge near the Battery Chashma in Ramban district on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway today. Three soldiers died on the spot. A rescue operation was immediately started," an official said.

Police have registered an FIR into the incident.

The Jammu-Srinagar highway has been closed off and on during the last fortnight due to landslides triggered by heavy rain in the Ramsoo-Ramban stretch of the road.

At many places, the road was washed away by mudslides and landslides. The highway has been repaired and restored for traffic, and even then, the over 40-km-long Ramban-Ramshoo stretch remains the weak link of the vital nearly 300-km-long highway.

Army and all civil supplies for the landlocked Valley are routed through this highway. Any temporary closure of this strategic highway results in shortages of essential commodities, including petroleum products, foodstuffs, etc, in the Valley.

Unscrupulous traders always step in during the highway closure to create a scarcity of essentials so that they can dictate prices to the helpless buyers.

It is because of the uncertainty of this highway that Kashmiris have yearned for a rail link between the Valley and the rest of the country for the last 70 years.

The ambitious rail link from Katra town in the Jammu division to Baramulla town in the Valley is now ready for inauguration.

Once the rail link is operationalised, horticulture, agriculture, tourism, industry, education and the common man will benefit as the journey would become cheap, affordable and dependable throughout the year.

--IANS

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