Sunday, October 23 2005 16:35 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Srinagar: It will take more than a month for authorities to open the Srinagar Muzaffarabad highway, which was damaged at several stretches in the October 8 quake, to traffic, defence sources said today (Oct 23, 2005).

An eight-kilometre stretch from Jhula to Kaman Post, where Indian Territory ends, had collapsed and it will take one-and-a-half months to make it traffic-worthy, they said.

Repairs on the 'Aman Setu' (peace bridge) on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road will be taken up only after the road to Kaman post was made motorable.

One of the spans of the Aman Setu on the Pakistani side is completely damaged after a part of a hill came down on it during the quake, sources said.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed who visited Uri and other affected areas yesterday, said he had asked the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) to speed up the process of restoration of the road to Kaman post as it will facilitate sending relief to the people across the border.

Sources added that roads were also being repaired in Kupwara and Baramulla, the worst-hit districts in the quake.

The road to Titwal, a historic town on the LOC in Kupwara sector, was finally opened, enabling supply of much-needed relief to the residents, they said.

The Chanipora-Tord-Karnah road, badly damaged in the quake, was also opened to traffic today. The opening of the road will help in carrying relief operations more effectively in the 14 cut-off villages in Karnah tehsil, Minister of State for Roads and Building G A Mir said.