The Srinagar-Jammu highway, the only surface link of Kashmir with rest of the world, continued to remain closed for the third consecutive day Wednesday, even as people heaved a sigh of relief following improvement in the weather conditions and temperatures across the state.
The 270-km-long highway was closed Sunday following snowfall and rains and hundreds of passengers are stranded on the road since then.
“The road is closed,” senior superintendent of traffic police (rural), Muzaffar Ahmad Shah told Greater Kashmir.
Apart from accumulated snow, there have been frequent landslides on the road, he said, but hastened to add that the snow clearance operation is underway. “Frequent landslides are hampering this operation”.
He said an avalanche had struck the Jawahar tunnel area on Tuesday, blocking its both tubes on the Qazigund side.
“We are expecting the highway to be open for traffic by this evening but only stranded vehicles will be allowed to move on priority,” Shah said.
The intending highway travelers must contact traffic control units in Srinagar and Jammu before leaving for their destinations on Thursday in case the road is through for traffic, he said.
A traffic department official said landslides have hit the highway during the last two days at Digdol, Panthal and Khoni Nallah areas.
AVALANCHE WARNING
Meanwhile, the divisional administration Kashmir issued a fresh avalanche warning for nine avalanche-prone districts of Kashmir, including Anantnag, Kulgam, Budgam, Baramulla, Kupwara, Bandipora, Ganderbal, Kargil and Leh. People living in avalanche-prone areas of these districts have been asked not to venture out to avoid the loss of lives, officials said.
“There has been improvement in weather conditions across J&K,” a meteorological department official said here, adding that they expect further improvement in coming days.
There was also improvement in night and day temperatures in Kashmir as well as in Jammu, the official said.
Srinagar recorded a minimum of 2.0 degree Celsius, Qazigund 1.9 degree Celsius, Pahalgam 2.0 degree Celsius, Kupwara 2.2 degree Celsius, Kokernag minus 1.7 degree Celsius and Gulmarg minus 2.4 degree Celsius.
The day temperature in Jammu division, the official said, is expected to rise after plummeting to 10.4 degree Celsius yesterday, 8.4 degrees below normal during this time of the season.
The night temperature also marked a slight dip and settled at 8.3 degree Celsius against the previous night’s 8.7 degree Celsius there, the official said, adding that the night temperature continues to remain over one degree above normal owing to cloud cover.
Katra recorded a minimum of 6 degree Celsius, while the snow-bound areas of highway including Banihal and Batote townships along with Bhaderwah in Doda district reeled under sub-zero temperatures.
Batote was the coldest recorded place in Jammu division with a low of minus 2.4 degree Celsius, while Banihal and Bhaderwah recorded a minimum of minus 0.3 degree Celsius.
SNOW DISRUPTS LIFE IN CHENAB VALLEY
Heavy snowfall has thrown life out of gear in scores of Chenab Valley areas, including Doda and Bhaderwah, even as the weather improved in the region Wednesday.
Apart from the disruption caused to the communication links, the electricity supply to most of the areas remained affected for the third consecutive day, according to witnesses.
Heavy snowfall since Sunday night forced authorities to close Bhaderwah-Basohli highway and Bhaderwah-Chamba road, while many far-flung areas in the region are also cut-off.
Around two to five feet of snow was recorded in different areas of Bhaderwah Valley and Bhalessa in district Doda.
Chattar Gala on Bhaderwah-Basohli highway and Padri Gali on Bhaderwah-Chamba road recorded five feet of snow, while Bhaderwah town received two feet of snow, Kota Top 2.5 feet, Dhadhkai 2.5 feet and Khanni Top 2.5 feet.
Doda town received around three inches of snow after a gap of nearly three years, while four inches of snow was recorded in Kishtwar town as well.
People have urged the state administration to restore power supply and link roads in Chenab Valley.
(With Tahir Nadeem Khan Yousufzai in Bhaderwah)