Over 3 000 vehicles stranded on Jammu-Srinagar highway after heavy rain and landslides, India

More than 3 000 vehicles are stranded after landslides affected various parts of Jammu-Srinagar national highway between Ramban and Binihal, Jammu and Kashmir, India since midnight (LT) on April 18, 2019.

The landslides first erupted at Monkey Morh around 12 in the night, SSP Traffic (NH) J S Johar said, as reported by The Indian Express. "While the road clearance work was in progress, the highway was closed due to landslides in Anokhi Fall area as well," he said.

The road clearance work was getting hampered due to continuous shooting stones in the area, SSP said, adding that a large number of vehicles were stranded on the road.

The event is hampering the 2019 Indian general election in the state.

Landslides have blocked the highway repeatedly over the last few weeks (NDTV archive).

More than 1 000 people have been killed across the world so far this year as a result of an unusually high number of landslides, according to landslides expert Dr. Dave Petley, Vice-President (Research and Innovation) at the University of Sheffield, UK.

Even though the first 3 months of the year are usually the least active period, 2019 has already seen an unusual level of landsliding worldwide, with fatalities totaling over 1 000 to date, Petley said April 18.

"Significant losses have occurred in rainfall-induced events in Africa, South America, Southeast Asia and in East Asia, as well as in mining and construction induced landslides."

Featured image credit: Jammu Links News