Excelsior Correspondent
-Excelsior/Amin War
Srinagar, Mar 9: Kashmir witnessed season’s heaviest overnight snowfall but the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway that was closed for traffic yesterday was re-opened for traffic this afternoon.
Srinagar and plains of Kashmir valley received around 8 inch to one ft of overnight snowfall. However, Sun came out early in the morning bringing some respite from the freak weather conditions.
Gulmarg received around 2 ft of fresh snowfall and hills in North Kashmir also received several feet fresh snowfall including along the Line of Control (LoC) where around 20 ft of snow has accumulated over the past few weeks.
The snowfall resulted in fresh cold wave as the night temperature dipped by two degrees in Srinagar to settle at minus 0.3 degree Celsius. Gulmarg was the coldest place in Kashmir division as the Mercury settled at minus 7 degrees Celsius while Kargil in Ladakh region recorded a low of minus 6.4 degrees Celsius.
The snowfall led to water-logging at several places in Srinagar and other areas of Kashmir valley and normal life was thrown out of gear.
The snowfall also led to major power break down since last evening. However, in majority of the areas the power was restored after 24 hours this evening. The electric poles and trees were uprooted at many places due to snowfall.
An official said that all major roads were cleared off snow by the Srinagar Municipal Corporation early in the morning, allowing movement of vehicular traffic within the city. However, on majority of Srinagar roads the traffic was going on snails pace due to slippery road condition.
The train service in Valley was also suspended to avoid any accident today, following heavy snowfall on Banihal-Baramulla railway track.
A railway official said tracks remained under several feet of white blanket because of heavy snowfall during the night. “The services will be resumed only after technical staff of the Railways inspect the track and give green signal,” he said.
Jammu-Srinagar National Highway that was closed for traffic yesterday was re-opened for traffic this afternoon after snow was cleared from the highway.
Around 3 feet fresh snow had accumulated on the highway in Jawahar Tunnel area. The Border Roads Organization started the snow clearance early in the morning. A 20 meter avalanche that hit north of Jawahar Tunnel early in the morning was cleared by the BRO.
Inspector General of Police Traffic, Muneer Ahmad Khan, told Excelsior that the highway was re-opened for traffic this afternoon at around 2 p.m. He said that 1085 trucks, 85 tankers, 25 empty trucks and 929 passenger vehicles crossed the Jawahar Tunnel towards Jammu. He said that the majority of the vehicles had crossed Nagrota this evening. He said that the traffic will be allowed to ply from Jammu to Srinagar tomorrow. “The passenger vehicles will be allowed to cross Nagrota between 4 a.m. to 7 a.m. and trucks will be allowed to cross Udhampur after 10 a.m.”, he added.
After the heavy snowfall, the authorities issued avalanche warning in higher reaches of Kashmir valley. The avalanche warning has been issued for Chowkibal, Tanghdar, Keran, Machil and Gurez areas in Kashmir valley and Banihal area on Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, South of Pir Panjal range.
Follow our WhatsApp channel