Raja Syed Rather
Srinagar, Nov 7: The world famous ski-resort, Gulmarg and other higher reaches of Kashmir here have experienced fresh snowfall today while the various roads across Jammu and Kashmir including the Srinagar-Jammu national highway remained closed as a precautionary measure.
The higher reaches of Kashmir including the famous ski-resort of Gulmarg in Baramulla, Gurez in Bandipora, Mughal Road, Kupwara and Central Kashmir’s Sonamarg area received fresh snowfall early in the morning, the officials said.
Besides, the rains lashed plains intermittently since late Sunday evening, bringing the mercury further down across the Valley.
Sadhna Top in Kupwara has recorded a snowfall of 2 ft while Gulmarg, as per the officials have received nearly 9 inches snowfall, adding that Gurez areas have received a snowfall of 3 inches.
As per the details available, Srinagar has recorded 30.4 mm rainfall till 8:30 Am today while Qazigund in South Kashmir received 36.3 mm rainfall and Kupwara received 23.8 mm rainfall till the morning.
Meanwhile, the fresh snowfall also led to the closure of major highways and roads across Jammu and Kashmir.
The historic Mughal Road connecting Poonch district of Jammu province with Shopian in South Kashmir has been closed for all kinds of vehicular traffic, owing to fresh snowfall in the upper reaches of the area.
Earlier, the authorities had also ordered the closure of Bandipora-Gurez highway in northern Kashmir for the movement of vehicles after a snowfall at Razdan Pass.
Several other roads including Sadhna Top, linking the border town of Tangdhar with other remote and remote regions, Kupwara and Gurez have also been closed as precautionary measures.
Furthermore, the Srinagar-Jammu highway was also closed for nearly 8 hours today while Srinagar-Leh highway has been closed by the authorities since the wee hours of this morning.
From Nov 06-07, the Srinagar-Jammu highway remained closed for nearly 8 hours due to inclement weather conditions.
Sonamarg-Zojjila road has also been closed after the upper reaches of Zojila in Ganderbal district received fresh snowfall while the fresh wet spell in Drass and Sonamarg has led to the closure of Sonamarg-Drass road,” an official said.
Moreover, the weatherman here has predicted gradual improvement in weather conditions till tomorrow evening. The officials in the local meteorological department said that another wet spell is expected from November 09-10, adding that the dry weather is expected from November 11-November 15.
“During November 11-15, there is a possibility of slight decrease in night temperature while the day temperature may go up,” the officials said.
Amid the fresh wet spell today, a bridge connecting Chitargam area of Shopian with Kulgam collapsed due to heavy rainfall. Locals accused the department and administration of negligence, saying that despite informing the authorities several times about the damaged bridge, no action was taken in this regard.
In Kulgam, police rescued three Bakerwal families stuck in snowfall at higher reaches of Waltangoo Nard Kund in Kulgam and shifted them to safer places.
The educational institutions in several districts like Ramban and Kishtwar remained closed due to inclement weather conditions.
