Fayaz Bukhari/Gopal Sharma
SRINAGAR/JAMMU, Apr 5: Heavy rains continued to lash Kashmir valley and parts of Jammu region today for the second consecutive day while the traffic on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway (NH) was suspended several times due to shooting stones and landslides throughout the day.
The rains in Kashmir that started yesterday continued today as well. The Meteorological Department had already forecasted rains in the Valley and other parts of the State. The rainfall also lashed areas along Srinagar-Jammu NH and as a result, it triggered landslides, causing traffic blockade.
The 300 km-long highway was cleared of the slides at several places between Banihal and Ramban, much to the relief of commuters who had left Jammu for Srinagar this morning, but got stranded at several places, officials of the Traffic department said.
Landslides and shooting stones from hillocks, triggered by heavy rains, had blocked the highway at Panthyal, Rathanwas, Gangroo and Hingni forcing suspension of the traffic on the arterial road this morning, the officials said.
The officials pressed men and machinery into service to clear the road after several hours of hard work, facilitating one-way traffic. Only one-way traffic is allowed on the highway and as such only Srinagar-bound vehicles were cleared to ply on the road, the officials said. The Highway was, however, again blocked in the evening due to shooting stone at Panthyal, officials added.
Most parts of Jammu and Kashmir including Srinagar and Jammu cities were lashed by heavy rains. Though the weather improved this morning after overnight rains but heavy cloud cover returned late afternoon, forcing people to once again look for the woolens which they had stowed away with the onset of spring.
Gulmarg in North Kashmir, which received 44.8 MM of rains coupled with snow, was the coldest recorded place in the State with night temperature slipping below freezing point, a spokesman of the MeT said.
He said the hill resort recorded a low of minus 0.8 degree Celsius. Srinagar, which recorded 28.2 MM of rainfall till 0830 hours today, witnessed a drop of 3.4 degrees in the night temperature which settled at 7.8 degree Celsius – two degrees below normal during this part of the season, the spokesman said. The summer capital recorded a high of 13.5 degree Celsius yesterday which is five degrees below normal.
Jammu was drenched by 26.4 mm of rains, resulting in a drop of over four notches in the night temperature. The city recorded a low of 17.0 degree celsius against the previous night’s 21.2 degree celsius. The spokesman said Kupwara town in North Kashmir recorded the highest rainfall of 49.7 mm during the past 12 hours.
The weatherman had predicted widespread rainfall till tomorrow followed by scattered rainfall on April 7 and isolated rainfall day after. The weather is expected to improve on April 9, the spokesman said.
With continuous rain and thunder-storm for the last two days, a significant decline in the temperature has been witnessed in Jammu and adjoining districts while heavy hail-storm caused extensive damage to the crops and fruit trees in many areas of Jammu region last night.
Official sources said that due to western disturbances, the rain and thunderstorm has hit many areas of northern region. In last two days, a sharp change in Jammu’s climate has been witnessed. In some hilly areas of Udhampur, Reasi, Rajouri and Kathua, the people have again started using woolen clothes. The sky over the City of Temples remained overcast with dark clouds during the day with intermittent downpour throughout the day. The water logging was also witnessed at many city roads, causing slight disruption in the movement of people and the vehicles.
Reports from Surankote, Mendhar, parts of Rajouri, Akhnoor, Jammu, Gajansoo- Marh, Kanha Chak, Samba, Bishnah, RS Pura and Reasi said that hailstorm caused extensive damage to the crops. The mango orchards laden with ‘flowers’ also suffered extensive damage in Jammu region with the overnight hailstorm. The farmers said that size of the snow balls was bigger than the normal size this time. They have urged upon the Government to have assessment of loss and provide compensation/ relief to the farmers.
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel