Gulmarg, Shri Amarnathji shrine receive fresh snowfall
Gopal Sharma/ Fayaz Bukhari
JAMMU/ SRINAGAR, June 18: The higher reaches in J&K including Gulmarg and Shri Amarnath cave experienced fresh snowfall while rain lashed entire J&K UT bringing down the temperature, whereas four vehicles were damaged in shooting stones on National Highway in Ramban sector today.
The Jammu-Srinagar National Highway remained blocked for more than five hours due to landslides at Samroli in Udhampur and two places in Ramban and Ramsu areas today. A large number of vehicles remained stranded while heavy traffic jamming was witnessed throughout the day today between Udhampur-Ramban-Banihal and Qazigund areas.
Four vehicles including a Tempo traveler were partially damaged due to shooting stones in Panthyal area of Ramban sector today but all the people onboard luckily escaped unhurt. A Tipper of GREF was washed away in Rajouri river after flash flood, at Thalka near Nariyan this afternoon but the trapped driver hailing from Hoshiarpur in Punjab, was rescued by police and locals of the area.
Deputy Director Meteorological department (MeT), Srinagar, Mukhtar Ahmad said that the snowfall has occurred at many higher reaches of Kashmir and some among them include Gulmarg, Amarnath cave, Shopian and hilly areas of Sonamarg.
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Shri Amarnath Shrine and hills of Sonmarg and Gulmarg received about 2 inches of snowfall.
He said that it is not for the first time that snowfall has occurred in the month of June as whenever the temperatures go down, the hilly areas usually experience snowfall.
The MeT official said that the freak weather will continue till June 21. “The weather would remain generally cloudy with intermittent rain and snow over the higher reaches,” he said.
Rain lashed the Valley including Srinagar where mercury plummeted and settled at 19.3 degrees Celsius. Srinagar recorded the hottest day of the season on June 15 at 32.8 degrees Celsius.
The residents pulled out woollens from their wardrobes and heating devices were also brought out.
Gulmarg where a fresh snowfall occurred today recorded a maximum temperature of 8.5 degrees Celsius.
The rains brought cheers to farmers in Kashmir who were worried over the delay in paddy plantation due to water shortage.
Farmers said that their hopes were dashed as they were unable to plant paddy due to shortage of water. However, they are happy now.
Farmers who had already planted paddy and their fields had started drying up due to shortage of water have also taken a sigh of relief due to rains. They are also hopeful that due to rains the water level in water bodies will increase and all irrigation pumps can function normally.
Meanwhile, due to heavy downpour in Jammu and its adjoining areas, a sharp fall of nearly 12 degree Celsius temperature was witnessed this afternoon. The water logging at many places in Jammu City also affected the smooth movement of traffic.
The Jammu-Srinagar National Highway was blocked near Samroli at around 10.30 am due to mud slides. The road was cleared at around 3.30 pm. A large number of vehicles remained stranded on the highway for hours.
At Panthyal and Rampedi near Banihal in Ramban sector the traffic remained suspended for several hours due to shooting stones and land slides. At Rampedi the big boulder was blasted to ensure movement of vehicles on both sides while due to shooting stones at Panthyal three cars and a Tempo Traveller vehicle were damaged this afternoon. However, the passengers escaped unhurt. The traffic jam was witnessed throughout the Jammu- Srinagar Highway today.
Reports from Rajouri said that a Tipper of GREF was washed away when labourers were loading stones in it near Thalka village in Nariyan area of Nowshera. While the labourers ran away to safety when the flash flood hit the river Munawar, the driver Hira Lal, hailing from Hoshiarpur in Punjab mounted on the Tipper. He was later rescued by the locals and police using ropes. The Tipper was later washed away in the river.
At least three houses were damaged due to heavy rain in Rajouri area while a school building was partially damaged due to flash flood after cloudburst in Loran area of Mandi in Poonch today. The houses of Ghulam Hassan at villager Alal, Firzana Akhtar at Azmatabad and Mohd Shafi at Thannamandi in Rajouri were partially damaged due to heavy rain.
A Government school and few other structures were partially damaged due to flash flood after cloudburst in Loran area this morning. However, no loss of life has been reported. The school children were removed to safer place by staff.
Due to heavy rain in Poonch and Rajouri, most of the rivers and Nallahs were over flooded.Water entered in many schools and other residential buildings causing damage to the public property.
A PHC building at Koti Chadyar in Bani area of Kathua was partially damaged due to wind storm and rain. The building was already in shambles. The tin roof top of the building was uprooted, causing damage to the medicines, beds and other material kept in the hospital.
Meanwhile, a MeT spokesman said that Jammu recorded a high of 31.3 deg C temperature today, 7.1 degree below normal. Katra base camp of Mata Vaishnodevi shrine recorded a maximum temperature of 24.4 deg C, 10.6 notches below the average. The weatherman has predicted fairly widespread light to moderate rain and thunderstorm during the next three days in Jammu region.
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