Fayaz Bukhari
Srinagar Nov 4: Jammu-Srinagar National Highway was closed this evening for traffic due to shooting stones caused by heavy rains while snowfall in the hills closed Mughal road, Srinagar-Leh highway and several other border roads.
A Traffic official said here that Jammu-Srinagar National Highway was closed this evening due to shooting stones at Magarkote and Gamru. He said that heavy rains in these areas caused shooting stones forcing authorities to close the highway for traffic.
The official said that traffic was stopped at Qazigund, Chanderkote, Shan Palace Ramban, Tikri and Mandwal on the highway. He said that around 500 vehicles are stranded at these places, mostly trucks and load carriers.
The official said that 250 trucks and load carriers and 60 passenger vehicles are stranded at Qazigund in Kashmir. He said that the traffic was stopped at Qazigund this evening after shooting stones closed the highway at Magarkote and Gamru.
The official said that around 50 vehicles are stranded at Chanderkote, 40 at Shan Palace Ramban, 50 at Tikri and 60 at Mandwal on the National Highway.
The official said that Srinagar-Leh National Highway and Mughal road were closed this morning due to snowfall at Zojila and Peer Ki Gali respectively.
The official said that over one feet snow had accumulated at Zojila this morning that led to the closure of Srinagar-Leh highway. He said that over 2 feet snow had accumulated at Peer Ki Gali this evening. The Mughal road in Shopian, South Kashmir, Kashmir valley with Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu region.
The Gurez-Bandipora, Karnah, Keran and Macchil roads in North Kashmir have also been closed due to snowfall this morning.
The Line of Control (LoC) in North Kashmir received fresh snowfall since last night. The LoC had received around 2 feet snowfall last week.
The upper reaches of Zabarwan hills in Srinagar received light snowfall this morning leading to severe cold in Kashmir valley.
Gulmarg received around one feet snowfall, Kongdoori over one feet and there is around 3 feet snow in Affarwat. The tourist rush to Gulmarg has increased since first snowfall in Gulmarg last week. Around 800-1000 tourists are visiting Gulmarg daily to see the snow.
Meteorological department said there were rains in plains with Kupwara in North Kashmir recording highest downpour of 27.2 mm during the day. The frontier district recorded a day temperature of 7.7 degree Celsius, almost 13 degrees Celsius less than the normal temperature for this time of the year.
Srinagar recorded 13.4 degrees Celsius, six degrees below normal while it recorded a rainfall of 12.8 mm since morning. Qazigund recorded a maximum temperature of 12.7 degrees Celsius while Pahalgam tourist resort had 6.4 degree Celsius and adjoining Kokernag had maximum of 10.6 degrees Celsius. Pahalgam had a rainfall of 21.0 mm, Kokernag received 16.8 mm while as Qazigund received 17.6 mm rain.
The Jammu region also was lashed by rains since yesterday bringing down the temperature by several notches.
A MeT official said that light rain and snow will continue till tomorrow evening across the State. “There has been widespread rain in the plains and snowfall in the higher reaches during the last two days,” the official said.
The upper reaches of Kathua, Doda and Poonch districts in Jammu region have received season’s first snowfall today.
While plains of Jammu region received heavy rains during the day, the season’s first snowfall was reported from upper reaches of Doda, Poonch and Kathua districts.
The Mughal road has been closed for vehicular traffic as over two feet snow was reported on the higher reaches of Pir Panchal. Reports said some vehicles are also trapped on the road.
According to reports, the higher reaches of Sarthal, Chattargala, Nanditar in Bani tehsil of Doda district have received six inch snowfall today. There has been considerable fall in the temperature also, reports, said, adding normal life was also disrupted due to the snowfall and people preferred to remain indoors.
The day temperature in Jammu has fallen to 21.3 Degree C from 26.3 yesterday while the night temperature was 16.4 C. There were reports of snowfall on Pir Panchal and upper reaches of Doda and Kishtwar districts also.
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