Sunday, August 3, 2008

JAMMU-SRINAGAR HIGHWAY IMPERILED

Kashmir Blockade Comes Into Effect - KO, 29 July 2008.
Fanatic Mobs Rule Highway - KO, 31 July 2008.
Drivers Caught Amid Goons & Partisan Police - KO, 2 August 2008.
Army called to Jammu: Mobs attack property - KO, 2 August 2008.
NH handed over to Army - KO, 2 August 2008.
UPDATE: Highway Of Terror: Drivers Bring Tales Of Horror - KO, 6 August 2008.

There is now a super-abundance of anecdotal evidence on the unreliability of this land route to Kashmir. The national highway linking Srinagar and Jammu is the only road linking Kashmir to the rest of India, and for a variety of reasons - landslides, snow blizzards, political and religious interference - it is too often closed. Tourists ought to fly into Srinagar, rather than risk having their journey involuntarily becalmed. I met two individuals in Gulmarg last winter who were stranded on this highway for several days with nearly a dozen people and no food in a 4-5 passenger jeep. Thrilling. Read a post from my blog last winter: National Highway Shuts Down, Re-Opens