Jammu, January 2
At least 500 persons were stranded on the Jammu-Srinagar highway today following the season’s first snowfall that blocked the traffic at several places. To make matters worse, landslides were also triggered due to a downpour.
The 300-km highway has been closed to traffic beyond Udhampur from this side and at Kazigund in the valley. All flights, except that of the Spicejet, between here and Delhi stand cancelled because of the bad weather.
Many places in the Doda district adjoining Chamba in Himachal Pradesh had heavy snowfall.
The DIG (Udhampur-Doda Range), Mr Satvir Gupta, said about 2-ft snow had accumulated on both sides of the approach road to Jawahar Tunnel. Snowfall was heavy at Banihal, Batote and Patnitop on the highway.
Lower areas of Jammu Division have had heavy rain since last night.
The snowfall started yesterday on New Year. By this morning, there was a thick white sheet at several places in the valley and Jammu Division.
No airline, including the Indian, Sahara, Airdeccan and Spicejet operated their flights to Srinagar because of heavy snowfall and poor visibility. None of the operators, except Spicejet, could land their aircraft here.
The tourist destinations of Pahalgam, Gulmarg, Sonamarg and Patnitop were under snow. While Pahalgam and Gulmarg had about 5-ft of snowfall, Patnitop recorded more than 2-ft of snowfall. The snow and rain has plummeted the temperatures in the state and life has been thrown out of gear.
The Doda-Kishtwar and the Doda-Bhaderwah roads have also been closed due to the snowfall.
The Border Roads Organisation will launch clearing operations when the snowfall stops and there is no danger of avalanches.
Snowfall was also recorded in parts of Trikuta Hills, where the cave shrine of Vaishnodevi is located and the higher reaches of Rajouri, Poonch and the Pir Panjal ranges.
The authorities have set up control rooms in all districts in the valley. These will function round-the-clock. Power supply remained disrupted for some time.
It has been decided that vehicles will be allowed to ply on the highway only after a green signal is received from the BRO authorities.
