Hailstorm in Poonch damages crops
Heavy snowfall in hills of Kashmir, parts of Jammu
Gopal Sharma/Fayaz Bukhari
JAMMU/ SRINAGAR, Feb 26: The bad weather forced the authorities to suspend the Gondola Cable Car service at the world famous ski-resort of Gulmarg while Helicopter service to Mata Vaishnodevi shrine from Katra base camp also remained affected today due to rain and bad weather, whereas, hilly areas of Kashmir experienced heavy snowfall.
Official sources said that due to inclement weather at Kongdoori and Affravat, the Gondola service shall remain suspended for the day. Authorities also assured that a full refund will be provided to ticket holders as per the established norms.
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“Gulmarg received 33 cms of snowfall during the past 24 hours much to the delight of the tourists staying there,” officials said.
Gulmarg Gondola, one of the highest cable car services in the world, remains a key attraction for adventure enthusiasts, nature lovers and tourists across the world. The Gulmarg Gondola service starts from the elevation of 8,694 ft.
Reports from Reasi said that Helicopter service remained suspended during morning hours due to rain and bad weather. It was made operational during after a few hours. however, the service was again suspended due to dark clouds and bad weather in the afternoon. But the battery car service remained operational. The on-foot pilgrimage continued despite rain during the day.
Many parts of Jammu region received rain during day today and last night. Higher reaches of Poonch, Rajouri, Ramban, Reasi, Doda and Kishtwar besides parts of Udhampur and Kathua received snowfall.
Poonch town experienced massive hail-storm this evening, causing damage to the crops. Due to snowfall on the higher reaches and hailstorm in the plain areas of Poonch, the temperature in the area has recorded sharp fall.
The fall in temperature has also been recorded in many areas of Jammu region. The rain threw normal life out of gear and also laid some impact on the Mahashivratri festivities in the winter capital city.
A Traffic Police official at Ramban said that despite rain last night and today, the movement of vehicles on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway remained smooth. Batote-Doda-Kishtwar road also remained operational today.
Amidst forecasts of wet spell, the fresh snowfall occurred at multiple places across hills of Kashmir while the intermittent rains continued for the second consecutive day today.
The fresh snowfall was recorded at Gulmarg and other places today, which led to temperatures plummeting in the Valley.
Sadhna Top and Zojila Pass recorded a snow depth of 2 feet, Z Gali 2.5 feet, Machil 2 feet, Sadna Top 2.5 feet, Furkiyan Top 2 feet, Gulmarg recorded a snow depth of one feet, Afarwat 3 feet, Kongdoori 2.5 feet, Sonamarg recorded 1.5 ft and Doodhpathri recorded 8 inches.
and Kupwara recorded rainfall of above 20 mm in the last 24 hours while Srinagar recorded a rainfall of 7.8 mm.
Chill returned to Srinagar as the city recorded the maximum temperature of 6.6 degree Celsius which is over 5 degrees Celsius below normal. Kupwara settled at 4.2 degree Celsius which is over 7 degrees Celsius below normal.
In its week-long weather forecast, Director Meteorological department (MeT), Dr Mukhtar Ahmad said that there is a possibility of light to moderate rain and snow at most places with isolated heavy rain and snow over both Kashmir & Jammu divisions for next two days.
“On March 1 and 2, amid generally cloudy weather, there is a forecast of light rain and snow at isolated to scattered places, adding that on March 3, light to moderate rain and snow is expected at many places.”
“From March 4 & 6, he said generally dry weather is expected”.
Meanwhile, the Met has also issued an advisory stating that there is a possibility of temporary disruption of surface transportation mainly over Sadhna pass, Razdan Pass, Sonamarg-Zojila-Gumri axis, Peer Galli on Mughal Road, Sinthan Pass in Kishtwar, Chhatergalla on Bhaderwah-Bani- Basohli Road and other major roads of hilly districts.
It has also advised tourists, travelers, and transporters to plan their trips accordingly and follow admin/traffic advisory. Farmers have also been advised to suspend irrigation and other farm operations during the period.
Giving parameters of the rain and snowfall during the past 24 hours, the Met office said that
Banihal received 38.8 mm rainfall, Bhaderwah 16.0 mm and Batote 30.1 mm, during the past 24 hours.
Many parts of Jammu region including Bhaderwah, Poonch, Banihal, Katra, Jammu, Kathua, Udhampur and Rajouri recorded a sharp fall in the day as well as night temperature. Jammu recorded a night temperature of 14.4 deg C, Batote 5.6 deg C, Banihal 5.4 deg, Bhaderwah town 4.8 deg, Kishtwar 4.2 deg, Rajouri 10.2 deg C, while Katra town registered 13.0 deg C temperature today.
Leh City recorded a minimum temperature of -3.0 deg and a maximum temperature of 3.8 deg Celsius on Wednesday.
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