Jammu-srinagar national highway closed after fresh snowfall in Kashmir
JAMMU : Most parts of Kashmir, including the plains, received fresh snowfall on Friday, leading to closure of 294-km long Srinagar-jammu national highway, the only all-weather road-link connecting the valley with the rest of the country.
Official of the Meteorological department here said that Srinagar recorded 5.6 mm of snowfall till 8:30 am Friday. Pahalgam health resort, which also serves as one of the base camps for the annual Amarnath yatra, received 11.4 mm of snow, while the famous ski-resort of Gulmarg recorded 3.4 mm of snow
It is learnt that light snowfall has also occurred in the tourist resort at Patnitop, along the national highway. The MET office has forecast intermittent light precipitation for the next 24 hours. Officials said since Thursday evening, rain has been pouring intermittently between Banihal and Ramban section of the national highway, while more than six inches of snow has accumulated on both sides of Jawahar Tunnel, the key link between Jammu and Srinagar regions, resulting in foggy and slippery road conditions. “Traffic on the national highway was suspended on Thursday evening due to snowfall and slippery conditions,” an official said.
He said the decision to resume traffic on the highway would be taken once there is improvement in the weather and the road is cleared off the snow. “If the weather holds good and all the stranded vehicles are cleared, we may allow Jammu bound vehicles, stranded at Qazigund, Kashmir, to move in the evening,” they said. However, the flight operations at the Srinagar airport here took place normally, an official at the airport said. Meanwhile, around 1500 Kashmir-bound vehicles which were stranded since Thursday evening, were allowed to move in a regulated manner for their respective destinations.
Meanwhile, Kufri in Himachal Pradesh’s Shimla district reeled under biting cold at sub zero temperature recording a minimum temperature of -1.1 °C. Keylong administrative centre continued to be the coldest place in the state at a low of -9.8 °C while state capital Shimla recorded 2.7 °C.
1,500 KASHMIR-BOUND VEHICLES STRANDED SINCE THURSDAY WERE ALLOWED TO MOVE ON FRIDAY