The divisional administration in Kashmir Friday issued a fresh avalanche warning for nine districts in view of the inclement weather, even as the Srinagar-Jammu highway was re-opened for one-way traffic.
Divisional commissioner Kashmir Baseer Ahmad Khan said the avalanche warning has been issued for avalanche-prone areas of Anantnag, Kulgam, Budgam, Baramulla, Kupwara, Bandipora, Ganderbal, Kargil and Leh districts.
The deputy commissioners of these districts are directed to advise the people living in avalanche-prone areas not to venture out during the warning period to avoid loss of lives, Khan said in a statement.
FRESH SNOWFALL
Most parts of Kashmir, including the plains, experienced fresh snowfall while the local meteorological department predicted erratic weather for next 24 hours.
A Met official said here that light snowfall started on Thursday evening in Kashmir and continued intermittently throughout the night. However, he said, no snowfall or rain was experienced on Friday.
Srinagar received .2mm snow, Qazigund 1.7mm, Pahalgam 1.0mm, Kupwara 1.0mm, Kokernag 0.1mm and Banihal 0.2mm.
“As expected, light snow occurred at most places of Kashmir and at scattered places of hilly areas of Jammu and Ladakh regions,” director meteorological department, Sonam Lotus said, adding: “Weather will remain overcast-to-cloudy with possibility of light snow/rains in some areas of Kashmir till next 24 hours.”
Lotus said there will be overall improvement in weather from January 13.
“As of now, except for isolated places in higher reaches, the chances of heavy snow in the plains are very less,” he said.
HIGHWAY RE-OPENES
The Srinagar-Jammu highway was re-opened on Friday, superintendent of traffic police (rural), Muzaffer Ahmad Shah, told Greater Kashmir.
Traffic on the 300-km-long highway was suspended due to 10-inch fresh snowfall on both sides of the Jawahar tunnel, Banihal and Shaitan Nallah last night, Shah said.
“Today we cleared the stranded vehicles while some fresh traffic also plied,” he said, adding that on Saturday, the traffic would ply from Jammu to Srinagar subject to fair weather conditions.
“No traffic will be allowed from the opposite side”.
The flight operations at the Srinagar airport were normal on Friday, an airport official said.
The Met official said the minimum temperature in Srinagar settled at minus one degree Celsius Thursday night, down from the previous night’s low of minus 0.3 degree Celsius.
He said Qazigund, the gateway town to the Valley in southern Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 1.2 degree Celsius, while the nearby Kokernag town registered a low of minus 2.2 degree Celsius Thursday night.
The official said the mercury in Kupwara town in northern Kashmir settled at a low of minus 0.6 degree Celsius, while the ski-resort of Gulmarg in northern Baramulla district recorded a low of minus 7.5 degree Celsius Thursday night, a degree up from the previous night.
The tourist resort of Pahalgam in southern Kashmir recorded a low of minus 3 degree Celsius Thursday night, up over eight degrees from minus 11.4 degree Celsius the previous night.
The official said Leh recorded a low of minus 9.5 degree Celsius, while the mercury in Drass settled at a low of minus 15.2 degree Celsius. Drass was the coldest recorded place in Jammu and Kashmir.