Many Uri, Kupwara area roads still under snow
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 10: The Jammu-Srinagar National Highway which was restored after five days, just two days ago, was today again blocked after a portion of highway sunk near Ramban this evening while dense fog continued to engulf many plain areas of Jammu for the last three days thus affecting morning flights.
Official sources told the Excelsior that at around 6.15 pm, a portion of road near Kela Morh, about 4 kms ahead of Ramban, towards Banihal sunk. With this, the movement of traffic on the busy highway came to halt. Hundreds of vehicles were stranded on the highway.
The NHAI officials reached the spot and the restoration work was launched. It was revealed that highway will be restored by tomorrow as concrete retaining wall has also broken.
Meanwhile, several morning flights were delayed at Jammu airport today due to dense fog. The fog has also hit the train and vehicular traffic for the last couple of days in the region.
Severe water crisis has gripped a village in Bhaderwah area of Doda district, which is facing the harshest winter in years, freezing water pipelines and forcing residents to travel long distances in search of potable water.
Located on the hilly slopes around 25 km from the Bhaderwah town, Sunote village in the middle of a dense cedar forest comprises nearly two dozen houses, including six tribal Gujjar families.
Frozen taps and over ground water pipes in the village have forced the residents to travel miles in search of potable water in sub-zero temperature. The women folk of these families, mostly farmers and cattle rearers, have been left with no option but to trek the snow-bound treacherous terrain in groups in search of water. Sometimes they even boil snow to get water for daily use.
“For the last couple of months, we have been forced to survive under sever water crisis. We keep on moving from dawn to dusk to fetch water amid sub-zero temperature, treacherous conditions and the fear of lurking wild animals,” 58-year-old local resident Asha Devi said.
As the night temperature has remained at sub-zero levels for over two months, it had a cascading effect on the water supply lines in remote areas of the Valley like Sunote village.
Executive Engineer PHE division, Doda, Satish Sharma said he is equally concerned about the problems being faced by the people in the absence of potable water.
“I will send my team headed by Assistant Executive Engineer there on Monday and will also visit there personally as the issue raised by the villagers is of very serious nature,” he said.
Meanwhile, reports from Kashmir said that after witnessing fresh snowfall on Saturday, the chilly weather conditions intensified today in the summer capital, Srinagar and other parts of Kashmir due to overcast conditions though the night temperature improved and settled above normal.
A MeT department spokesperson said that weather will remain dry during the next about five days. “The dry weather will result in considerable dip in the night temperature though the maximum temperature is expected to improve due to sunshine,” he said.
He said a fresh Western Disturbance (WD), which will originate in Arabian Sea and would approach the region through Afghanistan and Pakistan, would hit the region on January 15. “It would be a weak current and would result in light snowfall at some places in the valley,” he added.
After witnessing an improvement of about 2 degrees in the night temperature, people woke up to a chilly Sunday morning in Srinagar due to overcast conditions, coupled with icy cold winds. The weather remained chilly throughout the day in the city, where water bodies, including world famous Dal Lake was partly frozen. Against minus 4 degree recorded on Saturday, the night temperature in Srinagar was minus 2.6 degree, which is about a degree above normal. Mechanics and drivers could be seen early in the morning burning wood on roadsides to keep themselves warm in Srinagar, where interior roads and by-lanes remained under show which has now frozen due to sub-zero temperature.
Despite improvement of over 2 degrees from Saturday, world famous ski resort of Gulmarg was still the coldest place in the valley at minus 7.8 degrees, which is the normal temperature of the area during this time of the year. The tourist footfall in Gulmarg, which is known for its ski slopes and quality of snow, has witnessed increase by many folds since Christmas following early snowfall. “Despite chilly weather conditions, the tourists are out on ski slopes enjoying different snow related activities,” a hotelier from Gulmarg said.
World famous health resort of Pahalgam was the only place in the Valley where the mercury dipped though it settled a degree above normal. Against minus 5.1 degree recorded on Saturday, the night temperature at the resort was minus 5.9 degree.
The mercury at Qazigund, gateway to the valley, Kupwara in north Kashmir and tourist resort of Kukernag improved and settled at minus 0.4 degree, minus 1.5 degree and minus 1.3 degree, respectively
Nearly a week after the heaviest snowfall of the season, many areas of Uri in North Kashmir’s Baramulla district remain cut off as roads have not been cleared of snow, while power supply has not been restored to many villages.
The residents of several areas including Nambla, Churanda, Gowalta Zamoorpatan, Gohalan, Dudran and Chotali told Excelsior that the roads leading to their villages remain covered with a thick blanket of snow, causing multiple problems to them.
The residents said that the patients are the worst affected as they have to walk several kilometers to reach the hospital for treatment. “The patients especially the pregnant women have to wade through snow to reach the hospital as the roads remain under the snow. Even the ambulances cannot reach patients because of the non-clearance of the roads. The administration seems to be unmoved by our problems,” a local from Churunda said, adding that getting essentials is an arduous task as they have to travel by foot in the bone chilling cold.
An official at the PMGSY, Shahnawaz Peer said that snow has been cleared from around 95 percent of roads. “Maximum roads have been cleared and whatever is left will be done by tomorrow. We are facing problems only at Churunda because of the landslides,” he said.
The complaints of electricity outage were also received from several areas where residents accused the Power Development Department of failing to restore electricity to almost 50 percent of the areas. “The administration has failed to restore the electricity to most of areas and half of the Uri constituency is under darkness. This is despite three-power houses in the area that supply electricity to the entire Valley. They should restore the power to all the places with no delay,” Sajad Shafi said.
Assistant Executive Engineer, Fayaz Ahmad, Sub Division Mohra, told Excelsior that they have restored electricity to almost 95 percent of areas and the remaining areas would be connected by tonight. “Power supply to areas like Garkoot, Trikangam, Darkoot has been restored despite heavy damage to the power lines. The electricity in some areas is affected because of damage to their transformers. By tonight, almost 99 percent of areas will receive electricity,” he said.
After remaining out of bounds for the vehicles, the Kupwara-Tanghdar road was today thrown open for traffic after strenuous efforts of the Beacon workers as well as the district administration.
Officials said that after there was an improvement in the weather all through the last few days, the road was made motorable after the accumulated snow was cleared.
The district administration after assessing the condition of the road, allowed the vehicular traffic to ply on the road from Sunday morning. It was made sure that only those vehicles with anti-skid chains are allowed to commute.
The district administration has appreciated its officers as well as the Beacon authorities for their strenuous efforts to make the road motorable.
The administration has also restated its promise of providing better connectivity to border-residents including Karnah and Tanghdar.
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