Traffic on NH restored, avalanche warning issued
Gopal Sharma
JAMMU/ SRINAGAR, Dec 12: Rain and fresh snowfall threw life out of gear across J&K while there has been a sharp fall in temperature since last evening, whereas, Disaster Management has issued fresh avalanche warning for hilly areas.
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The Jammu-Srinagar National Highway which was closed after landslides at four places between Ramban and Banihal and snowfall at Jawahar Tunnel over night was restored this afternoon. There is no chance of early opening of Mughal Road as heavy snowfall at Pir Ki Gali and Poshana area of Pir Panchal has been witnessed since yesterday.
Srinagar-Leh highway, continued to remain closed for vehicular movement while Mughal road also remained closed for the fourth straight day today. Gurez-Bandipora road was closed for the vehicular movement.
Reports said that tourist resort of Gulmarg in Kashmir and Bhaderwah town in Jammu region besides Patnitop and higher reaches of Trikuta hills of Mata Vaishnodevi received fresh snowfall overnight, recording sharp fall in temperature. Jammu’s temperature has dropped nearly four degrees Celsius since last 24 hours forcing people to wear heavy woolen clothes. The weather however, improved during the day in Jammu.
Jammu- Srinagar National highway was blocked at Panthyal, Seri and also near Magarkote, Battery Chashma due to land- slides amidst rain last night. Jawahar Tunnel area also witnessed about 8-10 inch snowfall, forcing closure of the road.
A senior Traffic police official said that while the land- slides were cleared by the National Highway authorities before 10.30 am this morning, the road at Jawahar Tunnel, Shaitani Nallah area and north portal side of Jawahar Tunnel was cleared at around 2 pm. Thereafter, the Light Motor Vehicles from Kashmir side to Jammu were allowed to move, followed by heavy vehicles as in Tunnel area, only single road could be restored.
Bhaderwah area and Machail Mata in Kishtwar also witnessed fresh snowfall. Higher reaches of Seoj Dhar recorded one to 2 ft of snowfall today. The power supply to many areas has been snapped in the snow bound areas of Kishtwar, Doda, Ramban, Poonch and Rajouri.
Kashmir valley including Srinagar city received season’s first snowfall today. The higher reaches as well as the plains in the Valley received fresh snowfall today plummeting temperature across the region.
The Meteorological Department said that no major rain or snowfall is expected in J&K. “The weather would remain dry till December 19,” Deputy Director MeT, Mukhtar Ahmad said.
He said that the weather would remain cloudy on December 15 evening while as per the forecast there is no major system till December 19, adding that the weather would remain dry till Saturday.
The fresh snowfall has brought chill across Jammu and Kashmir as the maximum temperature plummeted in the Valley.
The higher reaches including world famous ski-resort Gulmarg, Sonamarg and other places received fresh snowfall today as well. Gulmarg received fresh snowfall of 18 inches.
Srinagar received around 2 inches of snowfall, Budgam 2 inches, Baramulla, 2 inches, Anantnag one inch, Shopian 7 , Keller one feet, Heerpora 1.2 feet, Aharbal one feet, Pulwama one inch and Tral 2-3 inches.
As per MeT data, Qazigund recorded 3.2 mm, Pahalgam 2.4mm, Kupwara 0.6 mm, Kokernag 4.3 mm and Gulmarg 0.2 mm rainfall on Friday between 8:30 am and 5:30 pm.
The snowfall led to waterlogging in certain low lying areas of Srinagar causing problems in commuting for the people. Besides roads across Valley were slippery this morning leading to skidding of vehicles. The snowfall lead to a drop in temperatures across the region.Srinagar recorded 10.1 degrees Celsius maximum temperature while ski-resort Gulmarg recorded 0.6 degrees Celsius day temperature with night temperature plummeting to minus 11.9
The Disaster Management Authority of Jammu and Kashmir Government issued a medium danger avalanche warning for higher reaches of Ramban, Anantnag, Baramulla, Kupwara, Bandipora and Ganderbal districts. The authority has also issued a low level avalanche warning for upper reaches of Poonch, Doda, Kishtwar, Kulgam and Kargil districts.
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