Cold wave conditions continued across Kashmir on Tuesday as the minimum temperatures remained below the freezing point, even as the local meteorological department predicted another spell of snow and rains from Thursday evening onwards.
A Met official told Greater Kashmir that weather conditions across the Valley are expected to “remain same” during the next 48 hours but there can be light precipitation during the next 24 hours.
A western disturbance is expected to be active over Kashmir from Thursday and under its influence the weather will remain erratic across the Valley until Sunday, the official said.
“For three days beginning Thursday, there may snow and rains but their intensity will be less as compared to the recent wet spell seen in the Valley,” the official said.
Meanwhile, the Met official said Srinagar, the summer capital of J&K, recorded a low of minus 2.0 degree Celsius, while the mercury in Qazigund, the gateway town to the Valley in southern Kashmir, settled at a low of minus 3.4 degree Celsius.
He said the ski-resort of Gulmarg in northern Baramulla district recorded a low of minus 3.1 degree Celsius, while the night temperature in tourist resort of Pahalgam in southern Kashmir settled at a low of minus 4.9 degree Celsius.
Kokernag town recorded a low of minus 3.2 degree Celsius while Kupwara town in northern Kashmir registered a low of minus 4.6 degree Celsius last night, the official said.
Jammu recorded a low of 7.8 degree Celsius while Batote recorded 0.5 degree Celsius, Banihal 1.2 degree Celsius and Bhaderwah minus 0.7 degree Celsius.
Kargil recorded the night’s lowest temperature at minus 15.0 degree Celsius while the neighbouring Leh recorded a minimum temperature of minus 8.9 degree Celsius, the Met official said.
HIGHWAY OPEN
One-way traffic continued to ply on the Srinagar-Jammu highway but Leh and Mughal roads remained closed due to accumulation of snow, superintendent of traffic police (rural), Muzaffer Ahmad Shah told Greater Kashmir.
He said on Tuesday, traffic plied from Jammu to Srinagar and no vehicle, including any security forces’ convoy, was allowed from the opposite direction. “On Wednesday, subject to fair weather, the vehicles would ply from Srinagar towards Jammu,” Shah said.
However, he said, people are requested to contact the traffic control units in Jammu and Srinagar—as well as at different locations on the highway—before leaving for their destinations.
ADVISOR, CS REVIEW PREPAREDNESS
Meanwhile, with the weatherman predicting another spell of snow in Kashmir around the weekend, the governor’s advisor Khurshid Ahmad Ganai and chief secretary BVR Subrahmanyam arrived at the winter secretariat in Srinagar on Tuesday to review the preparedness of the civil and police administration to deal with any eventuality.
An official spokesman said both Ganai and Subrahmanyam complimented the divisional administration Kashmir for “walking an extra mile to deal with the situation in the aftermath of the last week’s snowfall”.
“The administration’s visibility at the time of distress has a big soothing effect on the people. When officers are on ground, a sense of hope is generated which has a calming effect in such situations,” Ganai and Subrahmanyam observed, according to an official statement issued here.
The meeting was also attended by divisional commissioner Kashmir Baseer Ahmad Khan, deputy commissioners of all districts of Kashmir division, provincial heads of departments, IG Kashmir, and other officers of the civil and police administrations.
The advisor and the chief secretary complimented the divisional commissioner Kashmir, deputy commissioners of Kashmir division and the heads of departments for “making strenuous efforts to resume normal life after the disruption caused by snowfall last week”, the statement read.
“While complimenting the divisional administration Kashmir for walking extra mile to ensure that normal life was not affected during snowfall, advisor Ganai took note of cases where there was delay in clearing snow from lanes and by-lanes in parts of Kashmir,” the statement read, adding: “Ganai asked the divisional administration to make equal efforts in urban centers as well as far-flung areas of Kashmir and ensure that the life of commoners is not derailed by wet weather.”
“We tend to forget bad pockets easily during such bad situations,” he said.
They directed the deputy commissioners to use the SDRF funds for clearing liabilities that may have arisen due to inclement weather.
Earlier, the divisional commissioner Kashmir briefed the advisor and the chief secretary about the measures being put into place by the civil and police administration to tackle emergency situations since last week’s moderate to heavy snowfall that was recorded between 9 inches and 3.5 feet in different parts of Kashmir.
Khan said 97.3 percent roads affected by snowfall have been restored for traffic with the men and machinery of all the emergency departments were on their toes to ensure that there is no disruption in normal life.
He said the Srinagar-Jammu highway made operational on Sunday is open for one-way traffic, subject to dry weather conditions.
Director Met department Sonum Lotus informed the meeting that a weather system has built up which will lead to fresh snowfall from Friday, though it will not be as heavy as seen last week.
“Wet weather conditions marked by light to moderate snowfall and rains are likely to prevail till January 14,” he said.