Kashmir bounced back to life on Sunday as weather improved and the meteorological department predicted it will remain dry till Thursday.
The improvement in the weather came two days after the Valley plains experienced season’s heaviest snowfall leading to disruption in surface as well as air traffic. The overnight snowfall which stopped Saturday morning, had thrown life out of gear across Kashmir.
Unlike Saturday, Sunday saw hustle and bustle in the towns and villages as almost all the roads were cleared of the snow.
“There has been overall improvement in weather across Kashmir,” MeT officials told Greater Kashmir. “Till Thursday (Jan 10) the weather will remain dry.”
The on-way traffic on Srinagar-Jammu highway plied normally on Sunday, and on Monday the vehicles will move from Srinagar to Jammu.
The vehicular movement on the highway, the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with rest of the world was restored partially on Saturday, a day after it had been disrupted by the snowfall.
“The road is open for one way traffic and today the vehicles moved from Jammu to Srinagar,” superintendent of police, traffic (rural), Muzaffer Ahmad Shah told Greater Kashmir.
He said that highway travellers must contact traffic control units before leaving for their destinations. “No vehicle will be allowed to move after the cut off hours,” Shah added.
Meanwhile, the Mughal Road and the Srinagar-Sonamarg, Gumari Road remained closed due to the accumulation of snow. The traffic authorities advised the commuters not to travel during night hours.
MeT officials said that owing to clear sky, the night temperature settled below the freezing point. They said Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, recorded a minimum temperature of minus 1.2 degrees Celsius on Saturday night.
They said Qazigund, the gateway town to the Valley, in south Kashmir recorded a low of minus 0.6 degrees Celsius, while the nearby Kokernag registered a low of minus 2.2 degrees Celsius.
Officials said the mercury settled at a low of minus 4.2 degrees in north Kashmir’s Kupwara town.
Pahalgam tourist resort, recorded a low of minus 7.9 degrees Celsius while as ski-resort of Gulmarg was the coldest place in Jammu and Kashmir with a low of minus 9 degrees Celsius.
Leh, in the frontier Ladakh region, recorded a low of minus 1.3 degrees Celsius, while the mercury in the nearby Kargil settled at a low of minus 4.0 degrees Celsius, they said.