The shooting of stones from a hillock area on Sunday near the recently opened T-5 tunnel on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway disrupted the traffic. An army vehicle was damaged greatly after large stones fell off of a mountain, however, no personnel was injured in the incident.
A video of the incident has been doing rounds on social media in which large stones and small rocks can be seen rolling down the hills on the highway at a lightning speed which led to road blockage. A heavy traffic jam could also be seen on the highway.
Reportedly, shooting stones continued on both sides of the tunnel for some time however, no one was injured in the incident.
T-5 tunnel which is 880-metre long was opened to the public on March 16. The opening of this tunnel provided much-needed relief to the commuters as it let them bypass the most vulnerable stretch of Panthyal infamous for the frequent shooting of stones from the hillock.
According to a report by News 18, an Army convoy was moving through the tunnel when rocks started to fall from the hillock. It resulted in damage to one of the luxury vehicles, however, all the occupants escaped unhurt.
Ramban Deputy Commissioner Mussarat Islam while taking serious note of the matter asked the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to get the vulnerable zone technically and thoroughly assessed. This will help in setting up immediate protection measures for the lives of passengers travelling on the highway.
As per the report, Deputy Commissioner said that the massive shooting stone activity near the mouth of the South Portal of T-5 tunnel poses a grave threat to commuters is no protective measure will be taken.
In a communication to NHIA, he said, “You are advised to get the vulnerable zone technically assessed so that immediate protection measures are taken to protect the lives of passengers travelling on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway (now NH-44) as well as Tunnel T-5."
He added that the Panthyal stretch on NH-44 has brought huge respite to the commuters and also helped in better management of traffic in absence of jams, the report mentioned.