Rains lash Valley, mercury dips; intermittent showers in Jammu
STATE TIMES NEWS
Jammu: The Jammu-Srinagar National Highway and Mughal road were shut for traffic on Wednesday following landslides and mudslides triggered by heavy rains in Ramban and Poonch districts of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.
Jammu also witnessed intermittent rains, bringing respite to residents.
Over 200 vehicles have been stranded at various stretches of the highway, they said.
The 270-km highway, the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with rest of the country, was blocked by mudslides and shooting stones.
The highway has been closed till further clearance, SSP, Ramban, Mohita Sharma said in a tweet.
Heavy rains triggered a major landslide on Mughal road near Ratta Chamb bridge, blocking traffic movement, officials said.
The men and machines are working to clear the landslide, they said.
Meanwhile, rains lashed resulting in drop in the temperature, even as the meteorological department has forecast wet weather over the next two days in the Valley, officials said on Wednesday.
Kashmir over the past few days experienced active western disturbance which brought light to moderate rain in most of the places and snowfall in the higher reaches in some areas, they said.
Thunder, lightning and hailstorm accompanied by dusty winds also occurred at some places, they added.
Deputy Director, MeT, Mukhtair Ahmad, said the weather is likely to remain cloudy with the possibility of fairly widespread rainfall over the next two days.
There are chances of light snowfall in the higher reaches at some places, he added.
Hailstorms, thunder-lightning and gusty winds may also happen, Ahmad said.
From June 2-6, the weather is likely to stay mainly dry, he said. The deputy director said the wet weather has led to decrease in the temperature by several degrees across the valley. The maximum temperature in Srinagar on Wednesday was 15.3 degrees Celsius, 11 degrees below the normal.
The minimum temperature will remain around 10 to 12 degrees Celsius, but the maximum temperature will be lower than three to five degrees than the normal for this time of the season over the next few days, Ahmad said.