By Madhat Bin Hashmat

Every winter, as snow tightens its grip on the mountains, the Srinagar-Jammu highway disappears beneath ice and rock.

The trucks line up for miles, engines go off, and drivers wait for road clearance. Each closure cuts Kashmir off from the rest of the country.

Fuel runs low, markets slow down, and for a moment, it feels as if the valley has stopped breathing.

The 270-kilometer highway carries Kashmir’s economy, food, medicine, and spirit. Apples from Sopore, petrol bound for Srinagar, oxygen cylinders, and letters of hope all move along this road.

When it closes, the valley feels the pause in homes, markets, and waiting hands across the land.

In the months of sunlight, the highway lives in constant motion. Trucks roll in convoys, dhabas thrum with laughter, and the hills echo with engines and honking horns.

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© Kashmir Observer