Srinagar, January 16
The Kashmir valley remained cut off from the rest of the country for the second day today, as landslides triggered by heavy snowfall and rains blocked the 300-km Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, official sources said.

Landslides at four places between Ramban and Ramsu on the highway blocked the road, the only surface link between Kashmir valley and the rest of the country, traffic authorities here said.

A man was killed in a landslide at Magarkote near Ramban.

Deputy Inspector-General of Police (Udhampur-Doda) Satvir Gupta said though the road clearance operation was on, rains triggered fresh landslides at many places this morning.

He said a man got down from a stranded vehicle in an attempt to cover the blocked stretch of the road at Magarkote on foot when he was hit by a landslide, resulting in his instant death.

He was identified as Yasir Ahmad of Srinagar.

He said as the Batote-Banihal stretch of the highway was prone to IED blasts and grenade attacks by militants, vigil had been further intensified for the protection of the stranded passengers.

The Batote-Doda road was also closed to vehicles due to landslides at two to three places. The Bani-Loang road in Kathua district was also closed to traffic in the morning due to snow and landslides.

Official sources said Loang had recorded about 1 ft of snow by this afternoon.

SHIMLA: Vehicular traffic on the Shimla-Rohru route remained suspended due to over 1 foot snow at Khara Patthar, as the entire tribal belt and the higher reaches experienced heavy snowfall.

The temperature all over the state dipped drastically, as Manali, Rohtang, Peo, Kalpa, Patsio and Dhundi continued experiencing heavy snowfall. The district administration in the tribal belt issued a warning, asking people to stay indoors as there was fear of avalanches. The National Highway - 21 had already been closed to vehicular traffic earlier beyond Manali.

The Kulu district administration closed Rohtang even for pedestrians, as there were chances of high-velocity winds and snow blizzard. There has been almost 200 cm of snow at Rohtang, 108 cm at Solang Nullah, 145 cm at Dhundi, 69 cm in Bhang and 42 cm in Patsio. Almost 1.5 feet snow has been recorded at Reckong Peo.

The maximum temperature in Shimla dipped to 2.4 ° C from 6.8 °C yesterday, making weather conducive for snowfall. The minimum temperature fell from 2.4°C to 0.8° C. Despite heavy snowfall in Manali, Kinnaur, Lahaul-Spiti, Bharmour, the capital had not had a proper snowfall except for a few snowflakes on two occasions.

The entire state has been lashed by moderate rainfall. A total of 13.4 cm rainfall has been recorded in Shimla. The local met office has predicted moderate to heavy rainfall at certain places and snow in the higher reaches.

Due to heavy snowfall, all Manali-bound buses suspended their journey at Patlikuhal, about 20 km from here, causing great inconvenience to the passengers. Vehicular traffic remain suspended on the Manali–Kulu (left bank) route between Manali Naggar.

The famous ski slopes of Solang Valley experienced heavy snowfall. Snow on the Solang ski slopes brought cheer to ski lovers.

CHANDIGARH: The plains of Punjab and Haryana received showers, but there was an appreciable increase in the minimum temperatures, which shot by a few degrees in the region.

The minimum temperature has been on the rise for the past three days in the region and today there was further increase in them.

Chandigarh recorded a low of 12° C, 5 degrees above normal range.

Ambala had a low of 11.6° C, 5 degrees above normal. The low at Hisar jumped to 14.8°C, 9°C.

Among other places in Haryana, the low at Karnal was recorded at 13.6°C, 7 above normal, while the minimum at Rohtak was 10° C, up three degrees.

Delhi recorded a low of 11.6°C, up 5 degrees.