SRINAGAR : The arterial Srinagar-Jammu national highway was shut for the third consecutive day today due to landslides, even as dry weather prevailed in Kashmir where the mercury settled below the freezing point at most places.
The 270-km highway was briefly re-opened for traffic yesterday after two days, but was closed again due to landslips.
“The Srinagar-Jammu national highway is closed for traffic due to landslides at Anokhfall,” an official of the Traffic Control Room here said.
He said road maintenance agencies are on the job to clear the highway.
“Clearance work is underway. A decision on allowing the movement of traffic on the highway will be taken only after the road is cleared off by the road maintenance agency,” the official said.
The highway – the only all-weather road link connecting the Kashmir Valley with the rest of the country – was closed for traffic on Monday as Kashmir experienced the seasons’s first major snowfall.
Meanwhile, the weather stayed dry, but cloudy across Kashmir last night and the MeT office said there will be improvement today.
Srinagar recorded a minimum of zero degrees Celsius, an official of the MeT Office here said.
He said Qazigund town in south Kashmir recorded a low of -3.6 degrees Celsius, while the nearby Kokernag town registered a low of -3. 9 degrees Celsius.
Kupwara town in north Kashmir had a low of 0.2 degree Celsius, he said.
Pahalgam, the south Kashmir resort which also serves as one of the base camps for the annual Amarnath Yatra, registered a minimum of -8.2 degrees Celsius, the official said.
He said Gulmarg – the famous ski-resort in north Kashmir – recorded a low of -9.4 degrees Celsius.
Leh town in the Ladakh region quivered at -10.8 degrees Celsius, while the nearby Kargil town braved cold at -10 degrees Celsius.
Leh was the coldest recorded place in Jammu and Kashmir, the official said. (AGENCIES)
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