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Over 8,000 vehicles stranded in Kashmir
The highway had opened for a few hours on Saturday morning, a day after authorities closed it owing to landslides. On Friday, the upper reaches of valley as well as capital Srinagar had received light snowfall.
Over 8,000 vehicles were stranded in Kashmir as the Srinagar-Jammu Highway remained closed for the second day on Sunday after landslides blocked the road, officials said.
The highway was closed after a landslide hit a road in Ramban on Saturday.
“It was a big landslide and will take two to three days to clear the road. The Highway will open either on Monday evening or Tuesday morning,” said superintendent of police traffic (rural), Muzaffar Shah.
The traffic police officer said that thousands of vehicles were stranded on the Highway from Kashmir side. “More than 8000 trucks and small goods vehicles are stranded on our side. There are no passenger vehicles,” Shah said.
The highway had opened for a few hours on Saturday morning, a day after authorities closed it owing to landslides. On Friday, the upper reaches of valley as well as capital Srinagar had received light snowfall.
Officials at the MeT department said that the weather for next 7 days will remain dry. “There is no prediction of any wet weather system for next one week,” officials said.
The 40-day intense winter period – Chillai Kalan – started in Kashmir valley on Saturday even as the winter has prolonged this season after five spells of snowfall and rains already since November 6.
The minimum night temperature in Srinagar improved to settle at 1.2 degree Celsius which remained below zero for many days while the maximum day temperature was 8 degree Celsius.
“It was minus 7.6 degrees at Gulmarg during Saturday night and minus 6.8 degrees at Pahalgam. The coldest place of the Himalayan region was Drass at minus 21.6 degrees while it was minus 9.9 at Leh,” said an official of MeT.
On December 17, Srinagar-Jammu Highway was closed for major part of the day after landslides hit the road at Ramban. Light motor vehicles were allowed to move in the evening after the landslides were cleared.
