Several places in Valley receive snowfall
Rush of tourists commences at Kud, Patnitop
Gopal Sharma
JAMMU, Feb 21: The traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway was restored today morning after remaining suspended overnight following snowfall in Ramban and Banihal sectors while two mini-buses over-turned in Dudu Sub Division of Udhampur due to slippery road condition today.
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The traffic on the National Highway was suspended around 6.30 pm on Thursday due to slippery road conditions at several places between Ramsoo and Banihal in Ramban district, leaving more than 400 vehicles stranded at different places.
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“The traffic on the highway was resumed around 8 am on Friday and was plying smoothly from both sides,” a Traffic Police official at Ramban TCP said.
The official further said that the road clearance agency pressed snow-clearance machinery in operation on Thursday evening and most of the stranded vehicles were cleared during morning hours.
With improvement in the weather this morning, the clearance operation was speeded up paving the way for resumption of two-way traffic on the highway. There was reports of traffic jams at several places between Ramban and Banihal besides Dalwas area due to single way, the official added.
He further disclosed that Chenani-Kud-Patnitop-Batote stretch of the highway besides Banihal -Jawahar Tunnel -Lower Munda route for oil and gas tankers was also restored.
Higher reaches of Jammu and Kashmir received snowfall, while plains were lashed by rains on Wednesday night and Thursday, ending a prolonged dry spell.
Meanwhile, several places in Kashmir received fresh snowfall on Friday while the plains received intermittent rains.
The famous tourist resorts of Gulmarg, Sonamarg and Pahalgam received fresh overnight snowfall, the officials said, adding that the snowfall was also recorded in Anantnag, Zojila Pass, Banihal, Sadhna Pass, and Machil in Kupwara, and Razdan Pass in Bandipora.
The plains of the valley, including Srinagar, were lashed by overnight intermittent rains, they added.
The Meteorological Department said that during past 24 hours, Kashmir experienced light to moderate rain in the plains, and light to moderate snow over the higher reaches with isolated moderate to heavy snowfall.
The MeT office said while the weather is likely to remain cloudy it will be generally dry from February 21-24. Light to moderate rain or snow is possible at most places, with isolated heavy falls, during February 25-28.
Kashmir has witnessed a mostly dry winter this year with the months of January and February recording a precipitation deficit of around 80 per cent.
However, the wet weather spell along with the forecast of more precipitation have raised hopes among the people of reducing the high rainfall deficit in Kashmir.
Sarthal area of Bani Sub Division of district Kathua, Bhaderwah Sub Division in district Doda, Latti and Dudu- Basantgarh Sub Divisions of district Udhampur and Patnitop also received fresh snowfall last night.
A Minibus was over- turned on the road near Dudu this morning in which its driver Alam Din was injured.
Reports said there was about 8-10 inch snow on the road and the driver of the vehicle tried to move towards Latti in the morning, but after driving hardy 300 mts head, the vehicle went out of control on the sloppy road due to slippery conditions and vehicle over turned. The injured driver was shifted to Latti hospital.
Another mini-bus over turned on the road near Sira Morh in Latti area of Dudu Sub Division. About 7-8 passengers had miraculous escape as the vehicle stopped with the side parapet wall and escaped from falling into deep gorge. Some of the passengers jumped out of the vehicle in panic. About 4-5 passengers sustained minor injuries.
Meanwhile, Udhampur-Pancheri- Landhar-Gileyot road was today restored which had been blocked due to landslides on Thursday. Several link roads in Bhaderwah, Ramban, Gandoh area were still blocked. Sanasar road also could not be cleared, however, there was huge rush of local tourists at Kud and Patnitop. Man Talai-Latti road was cleared today by the authorities. But Bani-Bhaderwah road was still blocked.
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