Jammu-Srinagar highway shut for third day; snow hampers snow-clearance operations

Srinagar, January 24

The Jammu-Srinagar National Highway remained closed for the third day on Thursday as fresh snow is hampering efforts of authorities to clear the road for vehicular movement.

The arterial road was closed on Tuesday after a snow avalanche blocked both tubes of the Jawahar Tunnel on Qazigund side.

The official said intermitted snow was hampering road-clearance operations.

“The Jammu-Srinagar highway is still closed for traffic. Efforts are on to make the road traffic-worthy at the earliest,” an official of the traffic department told PTI.

Intermittent snow had been experienced in the rest of the Valley also since Thursday morning, a MET department official said.

Meanwhile, the cold wave conditions intensified in Kashmir as the minimum temperature at most places witnessed a drop on Wednesday night.

The minimum temperature in Srinagar on Wednesday night settled at minus 1.5 degrees Celsius–down from minus 0.3 degrees Celsius the previous night, the official said.

He said Qazigund recorded a low of minus 3 degrees Celsius, a dip of one degree over the previous night.

The nearby Kokernag town registered a low of minus 6.7 degrees Celsius.

The mercury in Kupwara town in north Kashmir settled at a low of minus 2.4 degree Celsius, he said.

Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 12.6 degrees Celsius while Pahalgam tourist resort recorded a low of minus 6.8 degrees Celsius, the official said.

He said Leh recorded a low of 14.2 degrees Celsius, a dip of nearly eight degrees over previous night.

The mercury in nearby Kargil settled at a low of minus 18.4 degrees Celsius.

Kargil was the second coldest place in Jammu and Kashmir, after Drass town where the minimum temperature settled at minus 19.3 degrees Celsius. PTI