WHITE BLANKET OVER HILL CITY
Show covers The Ridge in Shimla on Friday. Weather has been erratic and snowfall in March is a rare occurrence. Rains lashed most northern states on Friday.
The Jammu-Srinagar national highway remained closed for traffic for the third consecutive day as snowfall and rains lashed parts of the state on Thursday.
The residents of Srinagar woke up to witness a thin layer of snow covering the city as reports of heavy snowfall were received from the high altitude areas during the past 24 hours, officials said. Around 7-8 inch snow has reportedly accumulated near Jawahar tunnel. Meanwhile, Jammu received 20mm of rainfall in last 24 hours
The snowfall and incessant rains for the fourth day at various places along the SrinagarJammu highway, the only all weather road linking Kashmir with rest of the country, hampered the efforts of the concerned authorities to restore the arterial road. Meanwhile, over 3,000 vehicles have been stranded in Jammu and Udhampur.
Vishal Manhas, deputy superintendent of police, national highway, Banihal said, “No traffic movement was allowed, either from Srinagar or Jammu, for the third day today.”
He, however, added, “The decision to open the highway from one-way traffic on Saturday will be taken after factoring in the ground situation.”
A traffic official said, “To clear commuters of Doda region, the new Chenani-Nashri tunnel was opened for three hours.”
“Around 1,100 Valley-bound vehicles are stuck at Udhampur bypass,” he added.
Another official told PTI: “About 10 inch of snow had accumulated on ground around Jawahar Tunnel areas but the real problem is continuous landslides and shooting of stones triggered by incessant rains in Ramban sector, which is hampering the efforts of early restoration of the highway.”
He said Gulmarg recorded 15 inch fresh snow, while the snow accumulation in Srinagar was 2.5 centimetre till 8.30am.
The weatherman has predicted that in the next 24 hours, rainfall will occur at many places all over the state.
MERCURY DIPS IN HP AFTER SNOW IN SHIMLA
Shimla and other tourist destinations in Himachal Pradesh received a fresh spell of snow on Friday morning.
Shimla recorded 4cm of snowfall, Kufri 7cm, Narkanda 5cm, and Kharapathar 20cm. Kinnaur and Kullu also received snow.
Following the snowfall, traffic was hit beyond Kufri on the Shimla-Kinnaur highway. Movement of traffic was also hampered at Kharapathar on the Shimla-Rohru road.