Crucial highways connecting Kashmir shut following snow & rains
Srinagar: Snowfall in the upper reaches and widespread rains in Jammu and Kashmir led to the closure of the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, Mughal Road, and the Srinagar-Leh highway for vehicular traffic, officials said on Tuesday morning.
Traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway was blocked due to falling landslides and shooting stones following heavy rains.
Officials said the highway was blocked at Dhalwas and Cafeteria Morh in Ramban district of Jammu region. The road clearance work is in progress.
“SSG Road (Srinagar-Sonamarg-Gomri, which connects Ladakh with Kashmir valley) and Mughal Road were also closed due to snow accumulation,” traffic officials said.
The Meteorological Department (MeT) has predicted an improvement in weather as of Wednesday.
“Mainly dry weather is predicted for the next two days,” MeT said.
The snowfall was received Monday night in remote mountainous regions of Kashmir, including Sonmarg in Ganderbal district and Gurez in Bandipora district. The tourist resort of Sonamarg received 4–5 inches of snow.
While the upper reaches received snow, widespread rains lashed the plains.
Srinagar city recorded 20.9 mm of rain in the last 24 hours until Tuesday morning, the Meteorological Department said.
Qazigund in south Kashmir received 47.4 mm of rainfall, while north Kashmir’s Kupwara town received 12.3 mm of rainfall.
The ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district recorded 18.6 mm rain.
South Kashmir’s Pahalgam resort reported 27.4 mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours.
The snowfall and rain have brought down day as well as night temperatures across Kashmir.