Poonch Landslide Disrupts Travel, BRO Launches Swift Rescue Effort

More than 200 small and heavy vehicles remained stranded for several hours on Saturday after a landslide near Lasana in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district blocked the crucial National Highway-144 (NH-144).

The landslide, triggered by intense weather conditions, disrupted traffic movement on the vital route, leaving commuters and transport operators waiting for authorities to restore connectivity.

Responding swiftly to the situation, teams from the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), supported by the local administration, rushed to the affected site and launched an extensive road-clearing operation.

Officials said the restoration work was undertaken on a war footing, with heavy machinery deployed to remove debris and reopen the highway at the earliest.

According to the BRO, the operation lasted for nearly five hours, after which the blocked stretch was successfully cleared and reopened for general traffic.

The reopening of the highway enabled the stranded vehicles to continue their journeys safely toward their destinations, bringing relief to hundreds of passengers.

The incident comes amid changing weather patterns across Jammu and Kashmir.

Meanwhile, light rainfall over Srinagar’s Dal Lake created a tranquil and scenic atmosphere, even as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast continued cloudy conditions accompanied by the possibility of rain or thunderstorms in the city until Sunday.

For the broader Northwest India region, the IMD has predicted:

• Fairly widespread rainfall over Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand,
• Scattered rainfall across Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh,
• Thunderstorms, lightning, and gusty winds between June 13 and June 18,
• Stronger wind activity in parts of Jammu and Kashmir.

The weather agency also noted that the southwest monsoon continues to advance across several parts of the country, including regions of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, and Bihar.

The latest landslide incident follows other weather-related challenges faced by the Union Territory in recent days. Earlier this week, multiple forest fires erupted across Rajouri district, reportedly fuelled by prolonged dry conditions and intense heat.

Forest Department personnel, the Forest Protection Force, Social Forestry officials, and local volunteers had worked together to contain those fires and prevent them from spreading into densely forested areas.

The Poonch landslide once again highlights the vulnerability of mountainous regions to weather-induced disruptions and underscores the importance of rapid response mechanisms in maintaining critical connectivity.