Srinagar- Snowfall in higher reaches, including Gulmarg skiing resort, and rains in plains lashed Kashmir on Monday as precipitation is likely to continue in the valley over the next 48 hours, officials said.
Gulmarg skiing resort in Baramulla district, which is scheduled to host the fourth Khelo India Winter Games from Wednesday, has received around 1.5 feet of fresh snowfall over the past 24 hours, the officials said.
Snowfall was also reported from Kupwara, Handwara and Sonamarg areas of the valley.
The rest of the valley, including Srinagar city, has been lashed by moderate to heavy rains since Sunday.
Srinagar has received 12.4 mm rainfall over the past 24 hours while Qazigund received 12.8 mm rains.
Pahalgam (18.6 mm), Kupwara (42.7 mm) and Kokernag (8.0 mm) also received substantial rains over the same period.
National Highway Closed
The traffic on the 270-km Jammu-Srinagar national highway remained suspended on Monday after landslides and shooting of stones from hillocks at over half-a-dozen places in Ramban district rendered it unnavigable, and rains and snowfall lashed several parts of Jammu and Kashmir for the second day, officials said.
Two interstate highways were also closed as a precautionary measure in view of fresh snowfall in the upper reaches of Bhaderwah in Doda district, the officials said.
A traffic department official said the traffic on Jammu-Srinagar national highway was suspended around 9.30 am following landslides triggered by heavy rains in Dalwas, Mehad-Cafeteria, Chamalwas, Shalgadi and Gangroo.
Shooting stones from the hillocks were also reported from Panthiyal, Jaiswal bridge, Marog and a few other places during the day, the official said, adding, the highway was still closed for vehicular traffic when last reports were received.
Hundreds of passengers were left stranded due to the sudden closure of the arterial road.
Despite incessant rains, authorities mobilised men and machines to clear the road of the debris to make it navigable, they said.
Authorities have advised people to avoid journeys on the highway till the road is cleared and weather improves.
Bhaderwah Superintendent of Police Vinod Sharma said the vehicular movement on Bhaderwah-Pathankot and Bhaderwah-Chamba-Himachal interstate highways was also suspended due to heavy snow accumulation at Padri-Galli, Guldanda, and Chattergalla pass in Bhaderwah.
While intermittent to moderate rains lashed the plains, including the twin capital cities of Jammu and Srinagar, most of the upper reaches across Jammu and Kashmir got a fresh snowfall.
Following a heavy snowfall, particularly on the 30 km-stretch from Thanala to Khundi Maral on Bhaderwah-Chamba road, and 25 km-stretch from Thantera to Chattar Galla pass on Bhadarwah-Pathankot National Highway, Doda district administration suspended all kind of traffic on both roads.
“It is snowing heavily and the hilly roads have become very slippery with apprehension of avalanches,” Sharma said.
He appealed to all the tour operators and hoteliers not to guide any tourists to venture on these roads.
A couple of tourist vehicles got stuck in a snow storm in the Guldanda area and the travellers were rescued after hectic efforts by Border Roads Organisation and Police late Sunday night.
Officer In-charge, Meteorological department, Jammu, S C Sharma has predicted wet weather till February 25 – except February 23– with widespread rain in the plains and snowfall in high altitude areas in the next 24 hours.
Avalanche Warning Issued
The authorities on Monday issued an avalanche warning in the higher reaches of ten districts of Jammu and Kashmir during the next 24 hours, officials said.
The Jammu and Kashmir Disaster Management Authority (JKDMA) said a “low danger” level avalanche is likely to occur at 2500 metres above sea level in the higher reaches of Anantnag and Kulgam districts of south Kashmir in the next 24 hours.
Avalanche with “medium danger” level is likely to occur above 2200 metres over Doda, Kishtwar, Poonch, and Ramban districts in Jammu division and Bandipora and Baramulla districts of Kashmir valley during the next 24 hours.
Similarly, an avalanche with “high danger” level is likely to occur above 2200 metres over Kupwara in north Kashmir and Ganderbal in central Kashmir in the next 24 hours.
People living in these areas have been advised to take precautions and avoid venturing in the avalanche prone areas till further orders.Upper reaches of the Jammu and Kashmir experiencing a fresh snowfall for the past two days prompting authorities to issue a fresh avalanche warning as a precautionary measure for the people today.
The authorities have also asked the people living in these districts to dial 112 for help in case of any emergency.
Residential Houses Damaged
Gusty winds on Monday damaged several residential structures in the valley. In Srinagar, two residential houses were damaged in the Rainawari area while one was damaged in Harwan area.
Sources said that the rooftop of two residential houses belonging to Firdous Ahmad, Inayat Ahmad, and Manzoor Ahmad Sofi were damaged in Rainawari. They further added that one residential house belonging to Mohammad Aslam of Faqeer Gujree Harwan was also damaged after gusty winds struck the area.
However, no loss of life or injury was reported in the incidents.
In another such incident, a residential house was damaged due to heavy rainfall in Kulgam district on Monday, official sources said.
The house belonging to Hashmat Ali Khatana of Pranhall was damaged after heavy Rainfall in the area.
Meanwhile, an official told News Agency Kashmir Scroll that soon after the incident the family was rescued and later a relief was also provided to them. The official said that all are safe. He said that further assistance will be decided after proper assessment.
They said no loss of life or injury was reported in the incident.
Exams Postponed
The University of Kashmir has postponed all the examinations scheduled for (Monday) 19th and (Tuesday) 20th of Feb. 2024 in view of inclement weather conditions.
According to the KU spokesperson, the fresh dates for the conduct of postponed papers shall be communicated separately.
J&K Board of Technical Education has postponed exams scheduled for Tuesday.
As per the notice issued, revised date of the examination is 23 February.
“It is notified for information of all the Principals of Polytechnics of Jammu /Kashmir Divisions and the concerned students that due to unavoidable circumstances the theory papers of 1st semester( new Scheme) / 3rd Semester (NEP Scheme) for the examination session Nov-Dec- 2023 scheduled on 20-02-2024 are hereby POSTPONED and will now be held on 23 February for both for 1st Sem New Scheme and 3rd Sem NEP,” reads the notice.
“The venue of the examination will remain the same and the timing will be 10:30 AM.” It reads further.
Tourists Rescued
Officials in the Jammu & Kashmir State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) informed that dozens of tourists mostly in Dal Lake areas were rescued on Monday during the gusty winds amidst the rains.
Several Feeders Down
Following the downpour and snowfall across Kashmir valley, several 33 and 11 Kilowatts (KV) feeders have gone down—affecting electricity supply in several areas of the region.
Kashmir Power Distribution Corporation Limited (KPDCL) on the microblogging site X (formerly Twitter) said, “05 (Five) 33kV feeders out of 120 and 110 out of 1118 11 kV feeders DOWN in Kashmir Division. Efforts on to restore feeders under fault.” (SIC) KPDCL also said that a load of 1450 Megawatts (MW) were recorded on February-19.
It also said that the status of feeders can change due to the dynamics of the system and inclement weather.
Meanwhile, Chief Engineer distribution KPDCL Sandeep Seth told news agency KNO that the department was working round the clock to restore the electricity in the affected areas. “Our employees are continuously restoring the electricity in the affected areas. We have almost restored 80-90 percent of the electricity in all areas,” Seth said. (with PTI inputs)
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