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| Life thrown out of gear as incessant snow, rain continues in Kashmir | | |  Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, Mar 23: Normal life was thrown out of gear as incessant rain continued for the second successive day on Tuesday in the plains while upper reaches, including world famous ski resort of Gulmarg and tourist resort of Sonamarg, received snowfall in Kashmir.
Meanwhile, the maximum and minimum temperatures dipped across the valley, where rain and dip in the mercury would have adverse effects on the horticulture sector as almond trees are already in full blossoms due to summer-like weather earlier this month. The wet weather is also expected to impact the Tulip buds at Asia's largest Tulip garden, which is to be thrown open for the general public later this month.
A Met department spokesperson said that moderate to heavy rain and snow would continue at most places during the next 24 in Kashmir valley under the influence of a Western Disturbance (WD), which is active in the region. "A weather warning has been issued during this time when heavy snow, rain, thundershowers with gusty wind (30-40 km/hour) would occur at isolated places in the valley," he said.
He said the weather is expected to improve from Wednesday onwards.
After witnessing dip in the night temperature, people woke up to a rainy and chilly Tuesday morning in the summer capital, Srinagar, where life was thrown out of gear due to waterlogging of roads following incessant rain since Monday. Pedestrian and vehicular movement was badly affected as most of the roads in the city were waterlogged. The maximum temperature in the city dipped further and settled several degrees below normal, forcing people to once again wear sweaters and jackets, besides using other heating gadgets to keep themselves warm. The mercury during the night dipped 3 degrees from Monday and settled at 4.6 degree, which is slightly below normal.
He said generally cloudy with light rain and thunderstorms would occur during the next 24 hours in Srinagar, where the maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to settle at 12 degree and 5 degree, respectively.
Gulmarg, which is already covered under several feet of snow, continued to receive light to moderate snowfall for the second successive day, much to the delight of tourists. Kongdori and Apharwat, the highest point of the cable car project in Gulmarg, also received light to moderate snowfall. The ski resort was the only place in the valley where the night temperature settled below freezing point. Against the minus 0.5 degree recorded on Monday, the mercury dipped and settled at minus 0.9 degree, which is slightly above normal.
"It was still snowing in the ski resort though tourists were out on ski slopes enjoying different activities," a hotelier said over the phone.
He said the ski resort, which is about 55 km from here in north Kashmir, witnessed a huge influx of tourists this winter season after zero business during the last two years. "Most of the hotels are booked to April end in Gulmarg," he added.
World famous health resort of Pahalgam, about 100 km from here in south Kashmir, continued to receive intermittent heavy rain since early Monday morning, resulting in dip in the maximum temperature. The night temperature in the health resort also dipped about a degree from Monday and settled 3.2 degrees, which is about 3 degrees above normal. However, the upper reaches in Pahalgam, including Chandanwari, received light to moderate snowfall.
Dozens of far-flung and remote villages -- including border towns of Keran, Karnah, Machil and Tangdhar -- remained cutoff for the second successive day on Tuesday due to slippery road conditions in north Kashmir following heavy snowfall. Sadhna top, Phirkiyan pass and Z Gali received about 2 feet of fresh snowfall each since Monday morning. Tourist resort of Sonamarg on Srinagar-Leh highway received light to moderate snowfall since Monday morning.
Qazigund, gateway to the valley, also received fresh snowfall on Tuesday morning. Traffic on Srinagar-Jammu national highway, the only all weather road connecting Kashmir valley with the rest of the country, was suspended on Tuesday following landslides and shooting stones, triggered by heavy rains. |
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