Snowfall blocks Jammu-Srinagar highway

Tribune News Service

Jammu/Srinagar, January 11

Another spell of snow in the state once again snapped the road connectivity on the 300-km Jammu-Srinagar national highway on Friday.

Due to the snowfall and slippery roads at Ramban, the traffic police stopped the movement of light and heavy vehicles, leaving thousands of passengers stranded.

Senior traffic police officers said they were monitoring the situation and had posted personnel at various points to manage the traffic.

“The traffic has been stopped as the snowfall along the Jammu-Srinagar highway has blocked the highway. Vehicles will be allowed once weather improves as the road is slippery at several places,” said a senior officer at Traffic Control Room, Ramban.

In the Kashmir valley, several parts received lightto moderate snowfall overnight. Srinagar city received light snowfall while mountainous areas and parts of north Kashmir got moderate intensity snowfall.

In north Kashmir’s Bandipora district, machinery was deployed to remove the snow from roads during the night even as continuous snowfall made clearance difficult in higher reaches, a senior official said.

The latest precipitation is part of the fifth snow spell in the Valley during this winter. The spell is likely to continue for two more days.

The weather department had on Thursday issued a warning of a possibilityof disruption to vehicular and air traffic in the region on Saturday. The fresh snowfall in the region also coincided with a significant increase in night temperature even as temperatures across the Valley remained below the freezing point.

In Srinagar, the minimum overnight temperature was recorded at -1°C while the mercury dropped to a low of -3°C at south Kashmir’s Pahalgam resort. Gulmarg in north Kashmir, which has received several spells of heavy snowfall during the season, was the only exception where mercury dropped considerably to -7.5°C.

“As expected, light snow occurred at most places of Kashmir and at scattered places in hilly areas of Jammu and Ladakh region. Weather will remain overcast with possibility of light snow in some areas of Kashmir,” said Sonam Lotus, Director, Indian Meteorological Department, Srinagar.

“Overall improvement in weather will start fromSunday,” he added.