BHADARWAH: After gap of two years, finally people of Bhaderwah town, much to the delight of their eyes, woke up on Friday morning to experience snowflakes and accumulation of snow around them.
After two days of torrential rains in entire Chenab Valley and mild to heavy snowfall in the upper reaches including, Kailash Mountain Range, Padri Gali, Bhaal Padri, Braid Baal,Nehyed Chilly and Asha Pati Glacier, Bhadarwah town and it’s surrounding villages received season’s first proper snowfall after gap of two years.
Although common people in general and those associated with Agriculture, Horticulture and Tourism Industry in particular were beaming with joy and satisfaction but the early morning snowfall triggered extreme cold wave contions in Bhadarwah and adjoining Gandoh Valley forcing the dwellers to wear warm clothes and to lit up bonefires and traditional ‘Bukharies’ (fire place) to keep themselves warm to ward off the extreme chill if fresh snow and cold wave.
” After gap of two years , finally, Almighty listened to our prayers and ended prolonged snow drought. This is a blessing and every soul of Bhadarwah will be benefited from the snow, as all of us are directly or indirectly associated with Agriculture, Horticulture or Tourism Industry in one way or the other,” said a local businessman and social worker Imtiyaz-Ur-Rehman Jaggu.
Tour operators and guest house owners are also expecting increase in tourist flow after the snowfall as Bhadarwah is the only tourist place in Jammu province which is experiencing snowfall.
“We are expecting good business as there is hardly any or very little snowfall at Patni Top, and in comparison Bhadarwah Hills including famous Padri meadow on interstate Bhadarwah – Chamba Road and Chattar Gali and Guldanda meadows on Bhaderwah – Basholi Road are already filled with snow and today’s snowfall is the shot in the arm we needed,” said a tour operator and guest house owner Tariq Choudhary adding that Bhaderwah Development Authority (BDA) should go an extra mile to attract the tourist and make maximum of the opportunity this time.
RAMBAN: Many parts of district Ramban received fresh snowfall, ending the dry spell, with the Srinagar- Jammu National Highway being closed for some time due to bad weather.
Snowfall on the 300 km arterial highway, the active road link which connects the Valley with rest of the country, especially in the areas around Jawahar Tunnel and Patnitop forced its closure.
There was snowfall in many areas across the district Ramban including Pogal Paristan, Gool, Patnitop besides other parts of State like Bhadarwah, during the night.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (Traffic) Jawahar Tunnel Nihar Ranjan said that about 500 trucks and around 200 Light Motor Vehicles were stranded for several hours across both sides of Jawahar Tunnel.
He further said that at many places there are reports of landslides and shooting stones
However, Banihal Qazigund-Baramulla train continued its services during the fresh snowfall and the stranded passengers enjoying while travelling by train.
In order to meet any eventuality in case closure of National Highway and vehicles, passengers getting stranded due to inclement weather, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Ramban Mohammad Aijaz constituted Quick Response Team (QRT) for Banihal, Ramsoo, Ramban and Batote Patnitop.
QRT Team comprising concerned Tehsildar Contact No. 9419162982, Block Development Officer (BDO) Contact No. 9419126862, Station House Officer (SHO) Contact No. 9906259310 and Davinder Pal, Contact No. 9727733043, Arif Shakoor, Contact No. 8493821298, Arjun Singh, Contact No. 9906868568 for Batote Patnitop whereas concerned Tehsildar Contact No. 9419121365, BDO Contact No.9622518977, SHO Contact No. 9419199092 and Sr. Manager, Gammon India National HighwayAshutosh Kumar and S.N Tiwari Contact No. 9070897188 for Ramban while concerned Niab Tehsildar Contact No. 7298250056, BDO Contact No. 9858240307, SHO Contact No. 8803799632 and Main Controller, HCC National Highway, M.H Mohanty, Contact No.9622042882 for Ramsoo and concerned Tehsildar Contact No. 9419167206, 9622630045, BDO Contact No. 9419826667, SHO Contact No. 7298989061 and Assistant Manager, Navayuga, Irfan Lone Contact No. 9596757950 for Banihal have been constituted.
DDC has issued directions to the teams to keep updated about the weather conditions and remain in a state of preparedness to deal with any situation.