Minimum temperature decreases at most places in Kashmir
STATE TIMES NEWS
BANIHAL/JAMMU: The Jammu-Srinagar national highway was closed for traffic on Monday due to a landslide in Ramban district, leaving hundreds of vehicles stranded, an official said.
The 270-km highway, the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country, was blocked by the landslide at Pantiyal area.
An iron tunnel setup at this point to facilitate traffic in the wake of stone shooting has been damaged, they said.
There have been incidents of shooting stones in other areas in Ramban section, they said.
Hundreds of heavy motor vehicles (HMVs) and Light motor vehicles (LMVs) are stranded at different points of the highway due to the closure.
Men and machinery have been deployed to clear the area.
Meanwhile, the night temperature dropped in most places of Kashmir as the weather stayed dry, even as the Meteorological Department has forecast spells of wet weather from the mid-week due to western disturbances hitting the region, officials said.
The minimum temperature at most places in the valley decreased on Sunday night owing to dry weather, the officials said.
Srinagar recorded a low of minus 1.9 degrees Celsius on Sunday night — down from minus 0.6 degrees Celsius the night before, they said.
Qazigund, the gateway to the Valley, registered a drop of almost five degrees in the minimum temperature which settled at minus 5.6 degrees Celsius.
Kokernag in south Kashmir recorded a low of minus 6.6 degrees Celsius, compared to minus 1.4 degrees Celsius on the previous night.
The minimum in Kupwara, a frontier district, settled at minus 2.9 degrees Celsius, the officials said. Pahalgam in Anantnag district, which also serves as a base camp for the annual Amarnath Yatra, registered a low of minus 10.2 degrees Celsius.
The minimum temperature at the famous ski-resort of Gulmarg in Baramulla district went down from the previous night’s minus 10.4 degrees Celsius to settle at minus 12 degrees Celsius. The resort was the coldest recorded place in Jammu and Kashmir.
The meteorological office said the weather will remain mainly dry across J-K till January 18. There will be a further decrease in the night temperature till that time.
It said, a few western disturbances are likely to affect J-K from January 19 to 25.
The weather will remain cloudy from January 19-21 with chances of light rain/snow over isolated to scattered places mainly over higher reaches.