Jammu, Jul 12 (IANS): After remaining closed for five days, traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway was restored on Wednesday.

The traffic department officials have requested commuters to follow lane discipline to avoid jams on the highway.

The highway had been closed last Friday after a portion of the road caved in due to heavy downpour in Panthyal stretch of the highway.

The nearly 300-Km long Jammu-Srinagar highway is the lifeline of essential supplies to the landlocked Valley. All essential supplies including food grains, medicines, petroleum products, mutton and poultry products are brought into the Valley through this strategic highway.

Closures of the highway have always triggered panic among the people in the Valley who pounce on supply outlets to build stocks of essentials during such highway closures.

The public panic comes handy to unscrupulous traders who resort to black marketing and hoarding during such periods.

A recent example of this has been the extraordinary rush on petrol pumps during the last five days. Despite the authorities assuring the public that enough stocks of petroleum products existed in the Valley, many petrol pumps ran dry because of the heavy rush of vehicle owners struggling to get their vehicle tanks filled.