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| Heavy snowfall blocks highway for second consecutive day | | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Jan 7: Hundreds of passengers were stranded on the 300 km long Jammu Srinagar national highway and here in Jammu as the arterial road connecting Kashmir with other parts of the country remained closed for vehicular traffic following heavy snowfall and landslides at several places along the national highway.
The tourist resorts of Gulmarg and Pahalgam in Kashmir also received fresh snowfall on the second consecutive day here today whereas hill resort of Patnitop in Jammu division and higher reaches in Doda, Rajouri, Poonch and Trikuta hills also received seasons first snowfall in the intervening night and in the wee hours of saturday.
National Highway authorities said that highway was blocked at several places following snowfall and heavy rains.
"Overnight rains and fresh snowfall lashed Jawarhar tunnel area early today forcing the authorities to disrupt the vehicular movement, traffic police authorities said.
Meanwhile intense cold wave conditions prevailed across the state as mercury touched below zero degree even in plain areas of the state.Reports reaching here sid that the toursit resort of Pahalgam .Pahalgam recorded five feet of snowfall, the world-famous skiing resort of Gulmarg received four feet of snowfall.Srinagar city also received moderate snowfall along with rainfall throughout the day.
A meeting of the disaster management group was convened in Srinagar to review snow clearance operations and preparedness to meet any eventuality in the event of heavy snowfall in the valley.
Meanwhile, officials in Jammu said that over 300 vehicles had got stranded at different places on the highway between Jammu and Srinagar on friday as no traffic was allowed to proceed further. The Trikuta hills looked beautiful as the entire range was covered in thick blanket of white snow after a long time. Doda district also witnessed seasons first snowfall. Meanwhile the power crisis deepened further as over one dozen grid stations tripped due to continuous snow .
Chief Engineer, BEACON project, Brigadier T P S Rawat said about one to five feet of snowfall was recorded at different places on the highway. He said at Patnitop there was three to four feet of snowfall, Batote, three feet, Nasri nallah, five feet and Jawahar tunnel, four feet while it was about two feet at Qazigung. Brig Rawat said the snow clearance operation was launched from 0630 hrs today and sophisticated machines were pressed into service. However, he said the operation was stopped due to poor visibility and high speed wind activity. Due to wind activity there was possibility of avalanches, he said, adding the snow clearance operation was therefore stopped. He said the operation will be re-started once the weather improves. The highway was closed yesterday following heavy snowfall and slippery road conditions. Hundreds of tourists besides other passengers who left Srinagar for Jammu yesterday morning had to return back to Srinagar in the afternoon. Similarly, vehicles with passengers and essential commodities for Srinagar were also stranded in Jammu and other places on the other side of Jawahar tunnel. The stranded passengers alleged that contrary to tall claims there was no arrangement for stranded passengers and drivers and conductors of the vehicles on the highway. The Mughal road connecting Kashmir valley with Rajouri has also been closed due to four feet of snowfall. Razdan and Shadna passes, connecting more than 60 villages, particularly on the LoC, with the valley have also been closed due to heavy snowfall, official sources said. They said roads leading to hundreds of far-flung and remote areas in north, south and central Kashmir have also been closed due to heavy snowfall.
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