Srinagar, Sept. 15 -- Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday said the central government has failed to ensure the restoration of the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway (NH-44), which has remained closed for days due to landslides. He stated that if the Centre was unable to reopen the road, the state government should be allowed to take over the task.

Speaking to reporters in Srinagar, Abdullah said the highway comes under the jurisdiction of the central government and agencies working under it. "If they cannot handle it, then let them hand it over to us. We have engineers and staff who can restore the road. If this highway was under my administration, we would have already worked out a solution," he said.

The Chief Minister said repeated a...