The Army Tuesday restored the main road link between the Valley and Jammu by clearing the Jammu-Srinagar national highway. After sustained efforts for nearly a fortnight, the Border Roads Organisation and Army engineers reopened the 300-km national highway. Defence Ministry spokesman Lt Col Maneesh Mehta said this was achieved with simultaneous deployment of engineers and specialist equipment coordinated by the Chief Engineer of Northern Command HQ at Udhampur. The major impediment was a landslide at Ramsoo near Ramban, where over 300 metres of road had been washed away, Mehta said. Work is now on to construct a new bridge over the Ans River near Budhal, which will be completed in two days while over 40 landslides are cleared by the Sappers (military engineers). Clearing of the remaining debris and slush on several roads in the state continues in an effort to improve traffic, he said. Meanwhile, Army engineers have started constructing a bailey bridge at Kotranka to restore the road link between Rajouri and Reasi districts. The existing bridge of 1992 vintage was washed away during the flash floods in Kotranka area, affecting nearly 1.3 lakh people in both districts.
