M A I N   N E W S

Rain, snow disrupt life
Kashmir valley cut off
Tribune News Service and UNI

CHANDIGARH, Jan 12 — Normal life was disrupted at several places in the region today following moderate to heavy snow in the high altitude areas and mid-hills of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh and rain in the lower hills in the two states and in the plains of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh.

Srinagar and its adjoining areas had the season’s first snow in the morning, while the upper reaches of the Kashmir valley had been having heavy snow since last evening.

The 300-km-long Srinagar-Jammu national highway was closed due to heavy snow and landslides at several places, cutting off the Kashmir valley from the rest of the country. Air services were cancelled.

In Srinagar and the adjoining areas, the snow ended a long dry spell. Roads, trees, electric poles and rooftops were under a thick blanket of snow as people woke up this morning.

Vehicular traffic on the Hindustan-Tibet road, in Himachal Pradesh, was disrupted due to heavy snow at several places beyond Kufri, 20 km from Shimla. The authorities have pressed snow-cutter in to service for clearing snow, a report from Shimla said.

Gulmarg Ski Resort and Khilanmarg in Jammu and Kashmir experienced one to two feet of fresh snowfall, much to the delight of adventure sports lovers.

Kufri, Narkanda, Fagu and Kharapathar, in Shimla district, and Manali, in Kulu district, experienced season’s first heavy snowfall in the past 24 hours, intensifying the cold wave in the region.

Shimla and its adjoining areas have been experiencing strong gale accompanied by rain since morning. The Jakhu peak in Shimla had snow flakes for some time.

The entire tribal belt comprising Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur districts and the Pangi and Bharmour areas of Chamba district in Himachal were under a thick blanket of snow. The mercury hovered at -7°C to -16°C at various places in the tribal belt.

The Dhauladhar ranges in the Kangra valley have been experiencing heavy snowfall since last evening.

The Rohtang pass, a gateway to the Lahaul valley, has been experiencing heavy snowfall since yesterday.

The Bijli Mahadev Peak, overlooking Kulu district town, has also been experiencing heavy snowfall for the second day today.

The rain, which broke a prolonged dry spell of about four months in the region, is considered highly beneficial for rabi crops.

Jammu and its surrounding areas were lashed by heavy rain. The weatherman registered 30.9 mm rain at Jammu till 8.30 a.m.

Reports of rain have also come in from several parts of Himachal

Pradesh, including Dharamsala, Kangra, Palampur, Jogindernagar, Mandi, Kulu, Bhuntar, Bilaspur, Sujanpur Tira, Nadaun, Solan, Nahan, Nurpur and Chamba.

A report from Hamirpur said it had been raining throughout the district since last evening, causing steep fall in the mercury.

The city and its adjoining areas of Punjab and Haryana have been experiencing intermittent rain since early morning.

Reports of rain have come in from parts of Punjab and Haryana, including Amritsar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Nangal, Ropar, Ambala, Rohtak and Hisar.

The weatherman has predicted rain or snow at several places in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh and rain or thundershowers at many places in Punjab and at a few places in Haryana in the next 48 hours.

The Meteorological Office warned of heavy rain or snow at many places in Himachal Pradesh during this period.

Rain brightens rabi prospects
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 12 — Rabi prospects in this region, including Punjab and Haryana, have brightened following rain in the past 24 hours. Rain has, obviously, brought cheers to the sullen faces of farmers, who were worried due to the prolonged dry spell.

According to reports reaching here, the rain is widespread. Rain has been reported mild to moderate — varying from area to area. According to reports, the rainfall in border districts including Amritsar and Gurdaspur, is though far below normal but it is better than compared to other areas of Punjab.

Due to the dry spell, sowing of wheat was affected in the barren belt (rain fed) and yield of milch cattle went down as cultivation of green fodder was also hit. By and large the farming community was depending on tubewells in the past weeks to feed water to their rabi crops in the entire state.

Mr Deep Singh Sahota, Director, Agriculture, Punjab, said today that along with farming community the department officials were praying for the past some weeks for the rain. “We are happy that it has come though a bit late”.

He said he had asked all his officials concerned in the field to send reports with regard to rainfall in their respective areas. So far the rain was inadequate but if it continued for some more time intermittently it would improve the rabi prospects significantly.

With the current rain, he is expecting the covering of the remaining area with wheat crop. Mr Sahota said about 20,000 hectares in the rain-fed area had been left unsown due to the prolonged dry spell.

According to data gathered by TNS, about 33.25 lakh hectare area was under wheat crop in Punjab. It is a bit less compared to the last year’s figure of 33.38 lakh hectares. The authorities concerned in the agriculture department have assessed an yield to the tune of 140 lakh tonnes of wheat in Punjab this year.

About 73,000 hectare area is under oil seeds and 15000 hectare gram crop. Out of the entire sown area in Punjab, 60,000 hectares is dependent on rain. Mr Sahota said the rain would reduce the pressure on tubewells.

Likewise, in Haryana though the area under wheat crop is far less but rain would go a long way in improving the wheat output in that state. In Haryana, a substantial part of the state is dependent on the rain as far as nursing the rabi crop is concerned.

In fact, rain started in Delhi zone adjacent to Haryana and entered in Punjab area later.