WD to hit J&K; MeT office forecasts rain, snowfall
Gopal Sharma
JAMMU/SRINAGAR, Mar 10: Traffic movement on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway remained suspended for over 14 hours as authorities were carrying out road widening work on several problematic stretches in Ramban sector since last night.
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A Traffic Police official said that vehicular movement on the National Highway was suspended on Saturday at around 10 pm from Udhampur and Qazigund side. No movement of vehicles was allowed till 1 pm on Sunday. The National Highway authorities intended to road widening work at Dalwas, Mehar-Cafeteria patch, Panthiyal and Nachlana between Nashri and Banihal tunnels.
He further disclosed that the decision to suspend traffic on the highway for 14 hours from 10 pm on Saturday was taken to ensure the safety of commuters as landslides, mudslides and shooting stones have damaged the road at over a dozen places in Ramban, prompting the authorities to restrict the traffic to one-way on the highway since February 26.
With traffic plying alternatively from Srinagar and Jammu for the past fortnight, travellers have been facing massive snarls, especially in Dalwas, Mehar and Nachlana.
After the completion of road widening work, the traffic was restored at round 1.30 pm. The stranded vehicles were being allowed from both the sides. Then at around 5.30 pm mudslides at Dalwas blocked the highway again.
The traffic movement then again came to grinding halt. The restoration work was launched on war footing and at around 7.30 pm the one way traffic was restored at this point. There was massive traffic congestion and jamming at various places in Ramban sector. However, amidst traffic snarls, the movement of traffic was allowed from Banihal and Udhampur side.
Meanwhile, the MeT office has predicted rain and snowfall during next five days in the Jammu and Kashmir. Two back-to-back Western Disturbances in quick succession are likely to trigger rain and snow over the next five days in Jammu and Kashmir, a MeT official said.
The Meteorological Centre Srinagar forecasts that generally the weather will remain cloudy today with isolated very light rain and snow over the upper reaches of Jammu and Kashmir during the next 24 hours. The MeT office said there is a possibility of light to moderate rain or snow at widespread places during March 13, while light rain or snow at a few places on March 14. The weather is expected to remain generally dry during March 15 to 18.
An independent weather forecaster, predicted that two Western Disturbances in quick succession are going to affect Jammu and Kashmir over the next five days.
He said during March 13 and 14, there is a possibility of light to moderate rain or snow in most areas of Jammu and Kashmir. Heavy snowfall can also occur at a few higher reaches during the period. He said there is a possibility of a significant drop in daytime temperatures during the period.
Barring Gulmarg, the night temperature was recorded below normal in all stations of the Kashmir valley on Sunday.
Srinagar had a low of 2.2 deg C against 2.1 deg C recorded during the intervening nights of Saturday and Sunday. It was 1.1degree C below normal for the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir.
Qazigund on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in south Kashmir recorded a low of 1.4 deg C, while Kokernag settled at 1.8 deg C on Sunday. The night temperature at Pahalgam slipped down to a low of -2.5 deg C against the -0.4 deg C recorded a day ago. It was 1.1 deg C below normal for south Kashmir’s famous tourist hot spot.
The temperature at the ski- resort of Gulmarg improved and was recorded at -3.4 deg C against -4.2 deg C the previous night. It was 0.1 deg C above normal for the Valley of meadows in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Sunday.
Kupwara recorded a drop in night temperature and recorded a low of -0.5deg C against the 2.5 degrees C the previous night. It was 2.3 deg C below normal for the frontier Kashmir district on Sunday, the MeT office said.
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