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
SRINAGAR:FIVE soldiers have gone 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 Naugam sector of the border district of Kupwara while three others went missing from a forward post in Kanzalwan 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 Srinagar — 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 Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir received fresh snowfall and rain on Tuesday, with the Kashmir valley getting cut off from the rest 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 Shimla and Manali as these places had the season’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, Manali 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 37cm snowfall, Keylong 31cm, Kalpa 10cm, Bajura and Bharmaur 5cm each and Chhatarari 4cm.
Dalhousie received 108mm rain, Dehra Gopipur 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 snowfall at several places, including the Jawahar Tunnel, and incidents of landslides near Panthal.
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 Mughal road were closed for the second day. The highway was closed due to heavy snowfall at the Jawahar Tunnel, Patnitop and Ramban areas and landslides at Pathiyal,” 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 snowfall till 10am, while heavy snowfall was recorded in Sonamarg and Baltal, base camps of the annual Amarnath Yatra in central Kashmir, the MET office said. Moderate snowfall was reported from across south Kashmir, including the tourist resort of Pahalgam, 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 Kupwarakarnah roads were also closed, police officials said.
JAMMU HILLY REGIONS ALSO AFFECTED
In the Jammu 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 pilgrimage to the shrine was on despite heavy rain.