Snowfall, rain on Day 2 in J&K, Bhaderwah-Chamba road closed

2 feared dead as Sumo plunges into Chenab

Gopal Sharma
JAMMU, Nov 24: Many places in Kashmir and parts of Jammu received intermittent snowfall and rain for the second consecutive day today, forcing closure of Bhaderwah-Chamba and Bhaderwah-Bani-Basohli roads while police claimed to have identified two persons on board the Tata Sumo vehicle which rolled down into river Chenab during rain near Ramban late last evening.
A senior police officer told the Excelsior that on the basis of information provided by the families of the persons who were feared dead in last evening’s accident at Mehar near Ramban, it was established that two persons namely-Maya Ram (40) driver of Tata Sumo No. JK02BF/ 6657, son of Suram Chand and 19-year-old Parvinder Singh (SPO), son of Chadak Singh, both residents of Kumaite village near Ramban , were on way to home from Chanderkote side. It was raining during that time and when their vehicle reached at Mehar landslide zone, it slipped into the river at around 7.30 pm. After long search operation during last night and even during the whole day today, the vehicle or the missing persons could not be traced/ recovered, the police officer said.
Meanwhile, traffic on Jammu -Srinagar National Highway which was temporarily suspended after fresh snowfall at Jawahar Tunnel last night, was resumed early this morning. The landslides at two places between Ramban and Ramsu had also created blockades which were cleared during morning hours. Mughal Road continued to be closed for the last three days due to heavy snowfall at Pir Ki Gali and Poshana.
Most of the higher reaches of the Kashmir received moderate to heavy snowfall over the past 36 hours, while many areas in the plains experienced light snowfall and rains, a MeT official said.
He said intermittent snowfall and rains continued at many places today. The famous ski-resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir recorded seven inches of fresh snowfall during the night, while Pahalgam tourist resort in south Kashmir recorded six inches of snow, the official said.
There are reports of snowfall in other areas in the higher reaches, including the Sonamarg-Zojila axis on the Srinagar-Leh road which connects the Valley with Ladakh, he said, adding the road was closed for traffic on Monday.
The MeT office has said intermittent light to moderate rain/snow, with isolated heavy falls in the higher reaches, will continue till tomorrow afternoon.The weather is likely to improve afterwards and stay dry for a few days from Thursday.
After moderate to heavy snowfall since Monday afternoon in the upper reaches of Doda and Bhaderwah, authorities today suspended all kind of vehicular traffic on Bhaderwah-Chamba and Bhaderwah-Bani-Basohli road.
Official sources said that vehicular movement was stopped in view of heavy snowfall around Padri Gali pass of the interstate road as 1.5 to 2 feet of snow was recorded on 22 km stretch of the road from Khanni Top to Khundi Maral.
“Following heavy snowfall since last night, particularly on 22 KM stretch from Khanni Top to Khundi Maral on interstate Bhaderwah-Chamba road, we were compelled to suspend all kind of traffic on these roads. It is snowing heavily and road has become very slippery and there is also apprehension of Avalanches, ” Rakesh Kumar ADC Bhaderwah said adding that traffic will remain suspended till further orders.
“We are trying our best to keep both Bhaderwah-Chamba and Bhaderwah-Bani-Basohli-Pathankot interstate roads functional as both men and machines will be deployed to remove the snow from these roads as soon weather clears. R&B, BRO and Mechanical division has been asked to keep snow-cutter machines on stand by,” the ADC added.