- Traffic to ply one way on National Highway
- SAS issues Avalanche Warning
Jammu and Kashmir this winter recorded the highest snowfall in the past 10 years. The recent wave of snowfall paralysed the state as Srinagar -Jammu National Highway remained shut for the fourth consecutive day. More than 2,000 vehicles have remained trapped on the highway.
While tourists are happy to roam around in the snow, the local people are facing tough times.
“Our houses are very weak and creak with every step taken. They can’t even guard against the rainwater that often gushes into our rooms. There is no electricity and water and the situation will remain the same for the next three to four months,” said Om Prakash, a farmer who lives at Chenani on the highway.
Intense snowfall and incessant rain have caused power outage for days together, forcing villagers to grope about in the dark.
“The mornings are still better, as we can carry on with our routine work and go to school. But life just stops in the evenings. We can’t study and our education is badly affected owing to the lack of electricity,” said Sonia, daughter of Om Prakash.
The state’s power requirement is 1,700 megawatt, but it is forced to manage with only half of it. The state’s grid stations are overloaded and not ready for more electricity.
“We need 1,700 megawatt for an unrestricted power supply across the state, but with the present infrastructure, we can only transmit 1,100 megawatt. It is our duty to set the things right and we will do that,” said Nirmal Singh, Deputy Chief Minister.
But there is some good news. The MET department has said the weather will improve over the next few days and has expressed hope that the highway will open soon, drawing an end to the people’s problems.
After remaining closed for four days, the Srinagar-Jammu highway has been re-opened for one way traffic as weather improved in Kashmir and valleyites saw sunny skies after several days.
“The highway has been re-opened for one way traffic,” Inspector General of Police, Traffic, Shafqat A Watali told Greater Kashmir. “In case of fair weather, only passenger vehicles will be allowed to ply from Srinagar,” he said adding that no vehicle will be allowed to ply from Jammu side on Tuesday.
The senior police officer said that on Monday they cleared the stranded traffic on the road. He said that there were heavy landslides, shooting stones at Mehar, Seeri, Marog, Kela Moth, Barry Cheshma, Anookhifall, Digdol, Panthyal, Sherbibi and Chamalwas areas. He requested the highway travelers to contact Traffic Control Units on following numbers to know the status of highway before leaving for their respective destinations: Srinagar (01942450022, 2485396), TCU Ramban (9419993745) and TCU Jammu (01912459048, 9419147732).
On Monday the weather showed significant improvement after five days of intermittent rains and snowfall in Kashmir. “Now the weather will show more improvement,” Director MeT office, Sonam Lotus told Greater Kashmir, adding that temperatures have also shown upward trend. “There can be slight rain and snowfall at very isolated places, especially higher reaches.”
MeT officials said that during the last night snow and rains were reported from some isolated places Kashmir. They said that ski-resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir recorded 10 cm of snow, Pahalgam recorded seven cm and Kokernag nine cm.
They said Srinagar registered a low of minus 0.2 degree Celsius, compared to minus 0.7 degree Celsius a night earlier.
The official said that Gulmarg recorded minimum temperature of minus 9.0 degrees, a drop of over five degrees from minus 3.4 degrees Celsius.
Hilly resort of Pahalgam recorded a low of minus 6.6, a decrease of over six degrees from 0.2 degree Celsius the previous night. Kokernag town, also in south Kashmir, recorded nine cm of snow while the Mercury there settled at minus 0.7 degree Celsius.
Kupwara, in north Kashmir, registered a low of minus 2.8 degree Celsius, while Qazigund recorded a low of 0.8 degree Celsius.
Leh town in Ladakh region registered a low of minus 7.6 degrees Celsius, while Kargil town was the coldest recorded place in the state at minus 12.2 degrees Celsius.
Avalanche Warning
A medium danger warning was issued today for some avalanche-prone slopes of Jammu and Kashmir above 2,500 metres. Chandigarh-based Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE) said a “medium danger” warning is in place for avalanche-prone slopes above 2,500 metres in Kupwara, Ganderbal and Kargil districts of Jammu and Kashmir.
It said the warning is valid for the next 24 hours, starting at 5 PM Monday, and advised people not venture into avalanche-prone areas.
The SASE said a fresh spell of snow was witnessed until this morning in Gulmarg (10 cm) and Drass (38 cm).
