M A I N   N E W S

Snow in Shimla, Srinagar

Shimla, December 27
The famous capital resort, which is bustling with tourists, received a mild snowfall this evening, the first of the season, even as the Kashmir valley today witnessed a heavy snowfall.

The snowfall sent a wave of joy among the tourists who had flocked to the town for celebrating New Year’s Eve.

Earlier in the afternoon, snowflakes were witnessed. In the evening, sleet slashed the town, followed by snow. The minimum temperature recorded in the town was 2.1°C while the maximum was 8.6 °C.

There were also reports of snowfall from the hill resorts of Kufri, Narkanda and Khadpatter in Shimla district and Manali.

All through the day today, the sun played hide-and-seek, but later in the afternoon, dark clouds cast their spell over the town.

Srinagar: The Kashmir valley on Saturday received fresh snowfall, forcing the closure of the only road link between the valley and the rest of the country and the suspension of all incoming and outgoing flights, including special Haj flights scheduled for the day.

It started snowing in the upper reaches early this morning while the plains, including Srinagar, witnessed the season’s second snowfall around forenoon as the cold wave intensified in the region, official sources said.

About two inches of snow had accumulated in the Qazigund area on the 300-km long Srinagar-Jammu national highway, the only surface road linking the Kashmir valley with the rest of the country.

It snowed heavily in the area up to Jawahar tunnel, the gateway to the valley, as a result of which the arterial road was rendered slippery at many places, the sources said.

The fresh spell of snow also forced the suspension of all incoming and outgoing flights, including two special Haj flights to Jeddah, the sources said.

A total of 413 Haj pilgrims, including a large number of women, were stranded for hours at the airport since early today as the two special flights which were scheduled to carry them to Jeddah failed to arrive due to bad weather.

The vehicles which had already reached Qazigund were allowed to proceed with instructions to the operators to drive cautiously. However, no other vehicles were allowed to proceed on the road from either side of the highway as a precautionary measure.

Traffic police vehicles fitted with public address system went round the city this afternoon, directing passengers not to proceed to Jammu in view of the continued snowfall.

About three inches of fresh snow was recorded in the ski resort of Gulmarg in Baramula district of north Kashmir, where two to three feet of snow had already accumulated. — UNI, PTI