Rain, snow disrupt life in J-K

Tribune News Service 

Jammu/Srinagar, February 3

Incessant rain and heavy snowfall today threw normal life out of gear across the state. The 294-km Jammu-Srinagar national highway remained shut as intermittent snowfall continued in the region for the third consecutive day.

The air traffic to the Kashmir valley also was disrupted for the day as flights from the Srinagar-bound flights from Jammu Airport remained grounded due to a heavy downpour.

Other vital roads such as the Mughal Road, connecting Poonch and Rajouri districts with Shopian in the Valley, and the Batote-Doda-Kishtwar highway were also closed for traffic. The connectivity to far-off places in the mountainous Doda and Kishtwar districts was also snapped. 

The state administration has issued avalanche warning in upper reaches and has also advised people to keep clearing snow from rooftops of their houses.

The inclement weather also created power crisis in several parts of the state. Border districts Poonch and Rajouri plunged into darkness following a major technical snag in the 132-KV transmission line while serious faults were reported in transmission lines in different parts of Jammu district. 

“The highway is closed as it is still snowing at different places along the road. Around 3.5 feet of snowfall has been reported at Jawahar Tunnel, while there was around 1.5 feet of snow at the Patnitop hill resort. We are closely monitoring the situation and the road clearance work will be started only after improvement in weather,” said Sanjay Kotwal, SSP, National Highway. 

He said no vehicle from either side of Jawahar Tunnel was allowed to move for onward journey. “There has been no stranded vehicle between the Udhampur and Banihal stretch,” the SSP said. 

However, over 300 Kashmir-bound trucks carrying essential commodities and goods were stranded at the Udhampur bypass and Dhar, near Manwal. 

The highway was shut for traffic today for the second time in the past three days. It was first closed for all vehicular traffic on Sunday after heavy snowfall near Jawahar Tunnel and at several other locations along the road but was reopened yesterday after temporary improvement in the weather.

The snowfall, which began on Sunday morning, continued intermittently for the third day across the Kashmir region while parts of south Kashmir, including areas close to Jawahar Tunnel, received heavy snowfall. 

Gulmarg in north Kashmir and Pahalgam in south Kashmir also received snow, raising the hopes of the region’s tourism industry for fresh visitors.

There was fresh snowfall in Trikuta Hills, where the cave shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi is located, as well as in the Upper Himalayan areas of Reasi. 

In the Kashmir valley, the civil administration, various security agencies and the BRO have taken measures for winter disaster management in south Kashmir, particularly in view of the ongoing bad weather and avalanche warnings. A detailed coordination meeting at different levels with the Deputy Commissioners, senior officers of the police, other security agencies, BRO and other multiple agencies was held under the chairmanship of the GOC, 15 Corps, last month.

Shehnaz Goni, Chief Engineer, Power Development Department, Jammu, said: “Our engineers are on the job to restore power supply to Rajouri and Poonch districts.”