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| Highway opens for traffic, stranded vehicles cleared | | |
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Jan 4: With slight improvement in weather conditions and clearance of accumulated snow from stretch between Banihal and Qazigund, the 300-km-long Jammu-Srinagar National Highway was opened for vehicular traffic here this afternoon.
Sources informed that all the stranded vehicles including passenger and commercial have been cleared and in case the weather conditions improve further, it would be opened for “two-way” traffic tomorrow.
“Nearly 500 light motor vehicles, 800 trucks and 200 passenger vehicles, which were stranded on National Highway since yesterday, were allowed to move after the clearance of accumulated snow by Border Roads Organisation (BRO), responsible for the maintenance of the life line to Kashmir Valley,” maintained sources.
The highway was closed yesterday morning due to heavy snowfall between Qazigund to Banihal due to which the road had become slippery. The BRO had pressed into service sophisticated snow clearance machines and men to clear the highway. Snow on the roads had made it very risky for traveling.
“Only stranded vehicles were allowed to move towards their respective destinations. At around 1:00 p.m, the vehicles heading towards Kashmir Valley from Jammu were allowed to move while the vehicles from Srinagar were allowed to move towards Jammu were allowed at around 5:00 p.m this evening,” said sources, adding that the road was still slippery.
Meanwhile, Jammu region witnessed season’s first snowfall with Trikuta hills of world famous holy shrine of Goddess Vaishno Devi experiencing few inches of snowfall.
Besides, entire state has been gripped in biting cold waves with Maximum and Minimum temperatures witnessing significant fall in the backdrop of rains that lashed Jammu region on Sunday.
“The hilltops just towards the right of the Bhawan experienced snowfall early today,” an official source at the cave shrine told.
The snowfall at the Trikuta Hills was delayed by over a fortnight during this season as compared to 2008. It was delayed by almost a month as compared to 2007, when the shrine witnessed snowfall on December 4.
There was a minor drop in the number of pilgrims visiting the cave shrine due to severe cold wave conditions and rainfall yesterday, the official informed.
Life remained paralysed in the winter capital city due to thick fog and persisting cold conditions.
Till afternoon vehicles were seen plying on roads with headlights on to avoid mishaps due to low visibility. Markets in the city also opened late today, as people preferred to stay indoors.
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