Srinagar, Jan 21: Light rainfall occurred in valley plains while upper reaches and parts of south Kashmir experienced fresh snowfall on Saturday. Shooting stones disrupted traffic along the Srinagar-Jammu highway, leaving hundreds of vehicles stranded for several hours along the highway, officials said.
Director MeT Sonam Lotus told Rising Kashmir , “ Light rain and snow was witnessed at few places on Saturday. The ongoing wet spell will continue till Wednesday and thereafter we are expecting improvement in prevailing weather conditions from 26 January onward,” he said.
He said higher reaches including Gulmarg, Sonamarg, Bandipora, Kupwara, and Shopian experienced light snowfall, while rains continued in the plains.
Lotus said overall, the weather is likely to remain erratic with cloudy, intermittent rainfall, snow during the 20-26th in the whole J&K.
“People living in snowbound Areas are once again advised to remain alert and cautious while venturing in areas which are vulnerable to snow avalanches,” he said.
For the second consecutive day on Saturday, the Srinagar-Jammu highway remained closed for traffic following shooting stones at Panthal.
SSP Ramban and SSP Traffic NHW, Mohita Sharma said shooting stones were stopped at Panthayal at 4 pm and traffic was resumed from both sides on the highway.
On Sunday, subject to fair weather and road clearance, LMVs, Passengers, Private Cars shall be allowed from both sides the highway,” she said.
Director Srinagar International Airport, Kuldeep Singh said all to-fro flights operated normally at the airport. No flight was cancelled on Saturday, he said.
Meanwhile, State Disaster Management Authority on Saturday issued an avalanche warning in several districts of Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of heavy snowfall, and rain in the region.
“Avalanche with low danger level is likely to occur above 2500 metres over Anantnag, Bandipore, Baramula, Doda, Kishtwar, Kulgam, Kupwara, Poonch, Ramban in next 24 hours. The general public is advised to have valley movement with care. Avoid movement on slopes,” it said.
