SRINAGAR – After three days of continuous snowfall, cold wave conditions have returned to Kashmir Valley, where world famous ski resort of Gulmarg freezes at minus 11 degree.
Drass, one of the second coldest places in the world after Siberia, was coldest in the region at minus 24.1 degree followed by Leh minus 13 degree. However temperature at border town of Kargil in the Ladakh region was not available, a Met department spokesman said on Saturday. Over a dozen roads to far flung and remote areas remained closed due to snowfall in the region.
He said there could be isolated rain or snow in the Union Territory (UT) Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh during the next 24 hours.
Large number of far flung and remote areas, including those near the Line of Control (LoC) remained cut off from their respective district and tehsil headquarters in north, central and south Kashmir.
Majority interior roads in summer capital remained under snow as now snow clearance operation has been launched so far. However, snow has been cleared on main roads which were slippery in the morning after the minimum temperature dropped further and settled at minus 1.4 degree against minus 0.8 degree recorded on Friday. A number of roads were water-lodged. The Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) and other agencies have put into service pumps to drain out the water.
Due to chilly weather conditions, business and other activities resumes very late in the morning. Very less number of vehicles could be seen on the roads in the morning due to slippery road conditions. However, as the day progress the number of vehicles increased.
Met spokesman said he world famous ski resort of Gulmarg about 55 km from here in north Kashmir, was coldest at minus 11 degree. Large number of skiers and other adventure lovers could be seen on the ski slopes, which are under five to seven feet of snow.
Famed health resort of Pahalgam, about 100 km from here in south Kashmir, was second coldest in the valley at minus 6.8 degree followed by frontier district of Kupwara town minus 4.8 degree, where roads to border towns of Keran, Kanah, Machil and other villages remained closed due to heavy snowfall.
Kokernag, a tourist resort in south Kashmir recorded minus 2.1 degree and Qazigund minus 1.4 degree. (With Inputs From Agencies)
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