MeT forecasts heavy rain from Mar 23-25
Gopal Sharma
JAMMU, Mar 21: Over 3000 vehicles have been stranded on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, which has been closed due to landslides in Ramsu area of Ramban sector since morning, while the Meteorological Department has predicted heavy rain in Jammu and Kashmir and some parts of Ladakh from March 23 to 25.
With the light rain in many parts of Jammu region, including Doda, Ramban, Reasi, Poonch and Udhampur, a gradual fall in the temperature has been experienced in Jammu. It was sunny morning in the winter capital city today but in the afternoon, the sky was over cast with clouds. However, little drizzle was witnessed in some parts of Jammu, late in the evening.
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Reports from Ramban said that movement of vehicles on busy Jammu-Srinagar National Highway came to grinding halt after massive landslies occurred at Hingni near Ramsu at around 9 am today. About 50 meters area of the highway was affected with felling of boulders and debris from the steep hillock. The movement of vehicles on both the sides came to halt with it. As it was raining in the area since morning, the road clearance operation was delayed and then frequent landslides and felling of boulders through out the day, also hampered the highway restoration work.
Project Director National Highway, Ramban Sector, P K Phonsa said National Highway was blocked near Hingni this morning and the movement of LMVs on both the sides was stalled. The movement of HMVs from Kashmir to Jammu side was also stopped, there after. He said three machines including an excavator were pressed into service but the light rain and frequent falling of boulders hampered the restoration work.
Phonsa further disclosed that it was fresh landslide from a steep mountain and over 40-50 meters area of the highway has been affected. He said the highway was about to be cleared at around 6 pm but again fresh slides/ boulders blocked the road. “Now, it is around 7 pm and it can’t be predicted that highway will be restored within any specific time. Even under such circumstances, allowing movement of vehicles is very dangerous for the safety of the passengers. Most of the stranded vehicles at this point are Light Motor Vehicles and it has turned darkness now. There seems to be no possibility of road opening and allowing movement of vehicles as boulders continued to hit highway frequently,” he maintained.
SSP Traffic National Highway, J S Johar said highway which was blocked near Hingni at around 9 am could not be restored till this evening. It was very dangerous to allow movement of vehicles and moreover, shooting stones and falling of boulders hampered the restoration work. He added that over 1400-1500 Light Motor Vehicles in Ramban and Chanderkote area are stranded while almost equal number will also be there on that side towards Banihal. Movement of HMVs was allowed from only one side today and vehicles were stopped at their respective places in Valley when the road was blocked. He said till late evening, the highway was blocked and it was expected to be cleared by next 1-2 hours but allowing movement of vehicles was very risky and dangerous.
Meanwhile, light rain in many hilly areas of Jammu, including parts of Udhampur, Ramban, Doda, Reasi, Rajouri and Poonch has brought down the temperature in the region. The cold winds in the evening forced people to wear woollen clothes again.
A MeT spokesman has forecast light rain at many places across J&K tomorrow but heavy rain on March 23, 24 and 25. He stated that weather will improve after March 26. There will be cloudy weather in Jammu tomorrow and light rain may occur at some places in the region.
Meanwhile, Jammu today recorded a maximum temperature of 22.6 degree Celsius and minimum 16.9 deg C; Srinagar maximum 13.7 deg C and minimum 7.6 deg C; Leh maximum 11.6 deg C and minimum minus 5.2 deg C; Bhaderwah town maximum 15.2 deg C and minimum 4.8 deg C; Holy township of Katra maximum 18.4 deg C and minimum 14.8 deg C, tourist resort Gulmarg minimum 1.0 deg C while Batote town of Jammu region had maximum 13.6 deg C and minimum 7.4 deg C temperature today.
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