Hindustan Times (Amritsar)

5 soldiers missing after avalanche in J&K’s Gurez

HILLS TURN WHITE Srinagar, Manali and Dalhousie get season’s first snowfall, apple farmers elated; visitors throng HP tourist towns

- Abhishek Saha abhishek.saha@htlive.com

SRINAGAR: Five soldiers havegone missing as snow avalanches struck upper reaches of Kashmir on Tuesday.

A Srinagar-based army spokespers­on said that two soldiers slipped down a slope in Na ugam sector of the border district of Kupwara while three others went missing from a forward post in Kanzalw an sub-sector in Bandipora district .“Search and rescue operations are on. Updates will follow,” the spokespers­on added. Kashmir Valley received fresh snowfall on Tuesday, with the plain areas—including Sri nagar—experienci­ng the first of the season.

“Srinagar experience­d 3.5 cm of snow and rainfall and recorded a minimum temperatur­e of minus 0.2 degrees Celsius ,” said a MeT department official.

SHIMLA/SRINAGAR: Higher reaches of Him ac hal Pradesh and Jam mu and Kashmir received fresh snowfall and rain on Tuesday, with the Kashmir valley getting cut off from there st of the country as the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway and Mughal road was closed for traffic and flights at the Srinagar airport were suspended.

In HP, visitors thronged the tourist towns of S him la and Manalias these places had these ason’s first snowfall. Hotels in Shimla and other places have been receiving fresh inquiries for booking as the meteorolog­ical department has predicted more snowfall in the days to come.

In Shimla district, Kharapatha­r, Narkanda, Kufri received the first spell of snow. Traffic was hit for some time on the Shimla Kinnaur road. Other parts of state, including capital town Shimla, received light rainfall.

MANALI RECEIVES LIGHT SNOWFALL

In Kullu district, Man ali received light snowfall while Rohtang, Gulaba, Madhi and other higher reaches received fresh bout of snow. Heavy snowfall was recorded in higher reaches of Lahaul and Spiti and Kinnaur.

In the last 24 hours, Kothi received 37 cm snow fall, Key long 31cm, Kalpa 10cm, Bajura and B harm a ur 5 cm each and Chhatarari 4 cm.

Dalhousie received 108mm rain, De hr a Go pi p ur 96 mm, Dharamshal­a 85 mm, Saloni 68 mm, Gaggal 65 mm, Chamba 63 mm, Palampur 60 mm, Ghamroor 57 mm, Manali 56 mm, Nadaun 52 mm, Bangana 50 mm, Banjar 47 mm, Amb 46 mm, Baijnath 45 mm, Aghar 44 mm, Joginderna­gar 42 mm, Sarkaghat 40 mm, Sujanpur Tira and Mehre 39 mm each.

In J&K too, the present weather conditions are likely to continue till Thursday due to western disturbanc­e, the MeT office said. The 300-km SrinagarJa­mmu highway, the only all-----

weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country, was closed following heavy rain and snow fall at several places, including the Jaw ah ar Tunnel, and incidents of landslides near Pant hal.

Around 200 vehicles were stranded at different locations on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway since Monday evening.

In Jammu, the Mughal road, connecting Poonch and Rajouri with south Kashmir’s Shopian district, was also closed after heavy snowfall in Pir Ki Gali.

“The highway and the Mug hal road were closed for the second day. The highway was closed due to heavy snow fall at the Jaw ah ar Tunnel, Patnitop and Ramban areas and land slides at Pat hi y al ,” police officials said.

In the state’s summer capital, flight services to and fro from the Srinagar Internatio­nal Airport were hit due to poor visibility caused by heavy snow, airport authoritie­s said.

‘NO IMPROVEMEN­T IN VISIBILITY’

Srinagar airport director Sharad Kumar said, “There is no improvemen­t in the visibility around the airport so far. We are monitoring the situation. If visibility improves, we will resume the flight operations,” he said.

In Gulmarg, the coldest in J & K at minus 6.5 degrees Celsius, the spell of snow brightened prospects for winter sports as

nearly four feet of snow accumulate­d at the ski resort.

Srinagar, which had intermitte­nt rains since morning, received snow fall till 10 am, while heavy snowfall was recorded in Sonamarg and Baltal, base camps of the annual A mar na th Ya train central Kashmir, the MeT office said. Moderate snowfall was reported from across south Kashmir, including the tourist resort of Pa ha lg am, where seven inches of snow has accumulate­d so far while 3.5 feet of snow accumulate­d at Sonamarg, it said.

The Srinagar-Kargil, Bandipora-Gurez, Kupwara-Macchil, Kupwara-Keran and Kupwara-Karnah roads were also closed, police officials said.

JAMMU HILLY REGIONS ALSO AFFECTED

In the Jam mu division, there was very heavy snowfall in the hilly regions of Doda, Kishtwar, Ramban, Kathua, Rajouri, Reasi and Poonch districts, due to which some inter-district and interstate roads were closed.

Kargil in Kashmir recorded minus 3 degrees Celsius, Leh minus 1.4 degrees Celsius, Kokernag minus 0.6 degrees Celsius, Srinagar minus 0.2 degrees.

VAISHNO CHOPPER SERVICE REMAINS SUSPENDED

Due to the bad weather conditions and fog around the Trikuta Hills, the helicopter services to Mata Vaishno Devi remained suspended for the second consecutiv­e day on Tuesday.

The pilgrims, especially the elderly and handicappe­d, arriving at the Vaishno Devi shrine base camp, are facing difficulti­es due to the suspension.

Hundreds of pilgrims are stuck at Katra and are waiting for the chopper service to resume. However, the pilgrim age to the shrine was on despite heavy rain.

 ?? NAVEEN BHARATI/WASEEM ANDRABI /HT ?? People walk on a road in Dalhousie of Chamba district after snowfall on Tuesday; (right) children walking on a snowcovere­d footbridge in the interiors of the Dal Lake in Srinagar on Tuesday. Around 200 vehicles were stranded at different locations on...
NAVEEN BHARATI/WASEEM ANDRABI /HT People walk on a road in Dalhousie of Chamba district after snowfall on Tuesday; (right) children walking on a snowcovere­d footbridge in the interiors of the Dal Lake in Srinagar on Tuesday. Around 200 vehicles were stranded at different locations on...
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