Srinagar-Jammu national highway opened, intermittent snowfall continues

The 294-km Srinagar-Jammu national highway, the only all weather road connecting Kashmir with rest of the country, was opened for traffic after remaining closed for two days even as intermittent snowfall continued for the third day on Friday.

"The Srinagar-Jammu highway has been opened for traffic today. Vehicles are plying from Jammu to Srinagar," an official of the traffic department told PTI. The department is closely monitoring the situation as the areas around Jawahar Tunnel are experiencing intermittent snowfall, he added. "The drivers have been asked to drive cautiously," the official said.

The arterial road was closed on Wednesday due to snowfall across the Valley which continued intermittently till this afternoon, leading to an increase in minimum temperatures in most parts. Srinagar recorded a low of minus 0.7 degree Celsius, over one degree up as compared to the previous night's low of minus 1.9 degrees C, a MET Department official said.

The city received 0.5 mm of snowfall since on Thursday evening, the official said. Leh, in the frontier region of Ladakh, was the coldest recorded place in the state with a low of minus 17.2 degrees C compared to the previous night's minus 11.0 degrees C. Qazigund - the gateway town to Kashmir valley recorded a low of minus 3.8 degrees C and received snowfall of 3.4 mm till 8.30 AM, the official said.

The famous ski resort of Gulmarg, which recorded a low of minus 7.0 degrees C the previous night, registered a low of minus 10.8 degrees C last night, the official said. Pahalgam hill resort in south Kashmir, which serves as the base camp during the annual Amarnath yatra, recorded a low of minus 6.8 degrees C against the previous nights low of minus 5.8 degrees C.

The tourist resort recorded 2.2 mm of snowfall till morning. Kargil, also in Ladakh, registered a minimum of minus 8.6 degrees Celsius against minus 9.2 degrees Celsius the previous night, the official said. Meanwhile, the mercury in Kupwara, in north Kashmir, settled at a low of minus 0.7 degree Celsius compared to the previous night's minus 1.3 degrees Celsius, the official said.

The night temperature in south Kashmir's Kokernag settled at a low of minus 4.0 degrees Celsius, as against minus 4.5 degrees Celsius the previous night. The hill resort received 0.7 mm of snowfall during the night, he said. The MET office has predicted light rains or snowfall at a few places over the state and said there would be a fall in night temperatures.