Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Dec 23: The hills of Kashmir valley received fresh snowfall today while plains were lashed by rains leading to disruption of the traffic on Srinagar-Jammu National Highway for second consecutive day today.
IGP Traffic, Muneer Ahmad Khan told Excelsior that around 1000 passenger vehicles that were stranded on the National Highway were cleared today by the traffic police despite continuous snowfall in Jawahar Tunnel and Patnitop areas. “Around 200 Srinagar bound trucks stranded at Banihal were also cleared today”, he added.
Khan said that it was snowing in Banihal and Patnitop areas of the highway throughout the day making road slippery at these two places. He said that Border Roads Organization (BRO) pressed their machinery into service several times during the day to clear the highway.
The IGP said that hundreds of load carriers are stranded at Dhar road, Udhampur, Ramban, Lowermunda, Zig, Ladora and Srinagar due to continuous snowfall and slippery road condition of the highway. “However, only nine Srinagar bound passenger vehicles are stranded at Banihal and they will be cleared in the morning”, he added.
Khan said that if weather permits one-way traffic will be allowed on the highway from tomorrow from Srinagar to Jammu. He asked people to strictly adhere to one-way traffic norm as no opposite traffic will be allowed on the highway.
The IGP asked the commuters to verify the status of the highway from the Traffic Control Rooms before undertaking journey on the highway. He appealed commuters to strictly adhere to the cut off timings issued by the traffic police.
Reports reaching from Gulmarg said that the Mechanical Division of the Engineering has not cleared snow properly from the Tangmar-Gulmarg road. The hoteliers said that tourists are facing difficulties in reaching to Gulmarg. They said the road is slippery due to lack of snow clearance despite Gulmarg being an international tourist destination.
In the meantime, the hills of Kashmir received fresh snowfall for second consecutive day today while Valley received rains. Sun came out briefly in the morning but in the afternoon chilly winds were blowing across the Valley followed by rains in the evening.
A Meteorological Depar-tment official said here that there is a possibility of light rain or snowfall at a few places in the State in next 24 hours.
The official said that Srinagar received 0.5 mm of rainfall during the night and the mercury went down to settle at a low of minus 0.4 degrees Celsius, as compared to the previous night’s 0.3 degrees Celsius.
Gulmarg received around 1.25 cms of snow and the night temperature recorded a drop of three degrees to settle at a low of minus 9.6 degrees Celsius as compared to 6.6 degrees Celsius the previous night.
Pahalgam received 20 cms of snow, the official said, adding the mercury there settled at a low of minus 4.0 degrees Celsius, as against minus 2.4 degrees Celsius the previous night.
Qazigund recorded a low of minus 2.6 degree Celsius, almost three degrees down as compared to the previous night’s 0.2 degrees Celsius.The town received 2 cms of snow.
Kokernag, in south Kashmir, which recorded a low of minus 1.4 degrees Celsius the previous night, registered a minimum of minus 2.7 degrees Celsius on today.
Kupwara, in north Kashmir, recorded a minimum of minus 2.7 degrees Celsius compared to 0.3 degree Celsius the previous night. Kokernag and Kupwara recorded 12.4 mm and 1.1 mm of rains respectively.
The night temperature also decreased in Leh and it remained the coldest place in the State as the mercury settled at a low of minus 9.0 degrees Celsius as against minus 6.2 degrees Celsius the previous night.
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