A big landslide on Tuesday blocked the Jammu-Srinagar national highway at Mehar in Ramban district, said officials.
SSP (traffic, national highway) Shabir Malik said, “We had created a diversion to clear the traffic, but shooting stones, pebbles, and loose soil got accumulated.” He said a cable bridge in Maitra was later used to let the light vehicles pass.
“Big vehicles are still stranded. We are now trying to restore the diversion that was created for the movement of vehicles,” he said.
The only all-weather surface link that connects Kashmir with rest of the country remained closed from Friday to Sunday owing to heavy snowfall and multiple landslides in Ramban district even as the road clearance agencies sped up the restoration work amid improvement in weather.
Mercury plunges to -10.6°C in Gulmarg
Except Srinagar, all weather stations in Kashmir recorded sub-zero temperatures on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday with mercury plunging to a lowest of -10.6°C in Gulmarg.
Drass in Ladakh experienced bone-chilling temperature of -24.2°C during the night.
The J&K and Ladakh centres of IMD said that six out of the seven weather observation stations in Kashmir recorded sub-zero temperatures while Srinagar was slightly above zero.
In Pahalgam, mercury settled at -10.4°C while it was 0.2°C in Srinagar and -0.6°C in south Kashmir’s Qazigund. The temperature was -1.7°C in Kokernag, -3°C in Kupwara and -0.8°C in Konibal.
{{/usCountry}}In Pahalgam, mercury settled at -10.4°C while it was 0.2°C in Srinagar and -0.6°C in south Kashmir’s Qazigund. The temperature was -1.7°C in Kokernag, -3°C in Kupwara and -0.8°C in Konibal.
{{/usCountry}}The day temperatures at all the above stations remained 6 degrees or below except Kupwara, where it was 6.4 degrees.
J&K had witnessed widespread rains and snowfall between January 4 and 8, leading to cancellation of hundreds of flights at Srinagar International Airport.
In Jammu division, Bhaderwah, Batote and Banihal stations recorded -2.1°C, 0.1°C and 0.2°C, respectively during the night.
Many parts of Ladakh had witnessed light snowfall.