eavy snowfall cripples Kashmir Road, air traffic disrupted *Inter, intra-district communication snapped * Valley reels under darkness*Schools to remain closed today GK NEWS NETWORK SmallerDefaultLarger Srinagar, Mar 11: Heavy snowfall continued to lash Kashmir on the second consecutive day Tuesday, snapping power supply, submerging roads, suspending surface and air traffic and prompting authorities to issue a “high danger avalanche” warning. Intermittent snowfall across Kashmir for the past 48 hours also threw the normal life out of gear. While most of the business establishments remained closed today, the offices and banks marked thin attendance of employees due to non-availability of traffic and inclement weather. The summer capital, Srinagar, received 21 cm snow upto 5:30 pm, according to officials of MeT Department. The gateway town of Qazigund received 15 cm, Banihal 19 cm, Kupwara 16 cm, Gulmarg 10 inches, Pahalgam 40 cm and Kokernag 8 cm of fresh snowfall on Tuesday. Temperatures had already dropped to zero degree in Srinagar and have fallen below freezing point in upper reaches of the Valley. According to experts the heavy snowfall in the month of March is not in favour of agriculture or horticulture sectors. Reports said that thousands of apple trees have suffered damage in the Shopian district. Many roads of the city including commercial hub of Lal Chowk and Exhibition Crossing in Srinagar have been inundated and people are facing difficulty in moving around. FORECAST Officials have forecast moderate to heavy rain and snowfall at most of the places over the state during the next 24 hours. “Hailstorm may also occur at isolated places of J&K division,” a Met office spokesman said. The spokesman said there would be decrease in precipitation after March 12. Officials said “very heavy” rain/snow may occur at one or two places over J&K during next 24 hrs. “Thunder squall accompanied by hailstorm may also occur at one or two places over the state during the same period.” HIGHWAY CLOSED Traffic on Srinagar-Jammu highway was closed due to continuous snowfall at Jawahar Tunnel, officials said. They said landslides had occurred in Panthal area and over 1-ft snow had accumulated on the stretch around Jawahar Tunnel. “No vehicle en route is stranded. We cleared all vehicles yesterday,” IG Traffic, Muneer Ahmad Khan, said. Meanwhile, all flights have been cancelled at the Srinagar Airport due to continuous snowfall, officials said. RESCUE OPERATION QAZIGUND AND SHOPIAN Despite heavy snowfall intra-Kashmir train service remained operational with minor delays. SCHOOLS CLOSED All schools in Kashmir - including primary, middle, high and higher secondary - remained closed on Tuesday. The institutions would remain closed on March 12 also in view of the inclement weather. Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Shailendra Kumar, said schools would remain closed on March 12. He, however, said government has not extended vacations further. POWER SUPPLY BREAKDOWN The continuing snowfall damaged electricity lines in parts of Kashmir, officials said, breaking down power supply in the entire region. Reports said that the authorities had shut down entire power supplies to the valley, including the summer capital of Srinagar, on Monday night for fear of damage to human life. Large number of trees have been uprooted, blocking roads and getting entangled in transmission lines. As a result, there was no power supply in any part of the valley on Tuesday. In central Kashmir’s Budgam district, reports said, four electricity towers were damaged. The lines have also reportedly sustained damage in other parts of Kashmir, Chief Engineer (System and Operation Wing) Power Development Department, Sheikh Gul Ayaz, told Greater Kashmir. He said restoration was subject to the condition of weather. “We are trying to fix the lines. But the damage is reported every now and then due to continuing snow,” he said. “If snow stops, the supply would hopefully be restored after 6 pm,” he added. Meanwhile, Kashmir Centre for Social and Developmental Studies (KCDCS) slammed the State Government for the power failure. “Just two inches of snowfall has buried the whole administration,” said KCDCS chairperson Prof Hameeda Nayeem. “It is inefficiency on part of government for being under-prepared. We have been without electricity since yesterday and government is nowhere in sight.” Several areas in Kashmir also complained of acute drinking water scarcity. BANDIPORA The heavy spell of snowfall crippled life in most parts of north Kashmir’s Bandipora district. The snowfall compounded the problems of the people in many villages of district who were already facing acute shortage of water s and power. People also complained that the roads have not been cleared of snow. The worst affected areas were the upper reaches including Arin, Sumlar, Bonkoot, Athwatoo and Malangam. People in lower reaches including main townships face hardships as authorities failed to clear the main as well as link roads from yesterday. The lower reaches recorded around 9 inches snow, while the upper reaches recorded more than 3 feet snow. The upper reaches of the area, including Sumlar, Dardpora, Chuntimullah, Kudara, Athwatoo, Khenusa Gujarpati remained cut off from the main town due to accumulation of snow on the link roads. Several villages in Hajin block – Madvan, Banyari, Chrengpora, Paribal, Preng Shahgund, too were cut-off as snow was not cleared from link roads. Gurez valley received around two feet of fresh snowfall, Tulail valley received more than 2-feet snow while Bagtore in Gurez received nearly 3 feet of snow. Residents in main Bandipora township alleged that most villages have been reeling under darkness as electricity was snapped soon after the snowfall started. KUPWARA In north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, slippery road conditions lead to chaos on the roads. Several upper belt areas are still cut-off from the district headquarters due to accumulation of around one to two feet of fresh snow. In plains and lower areas of the district, moderate snowfall was recorded upto Tuesday evening while as upper reaches received heavy snowfall. The fresh snowfall compounded the problems of the people in many border and high altitude villages like Karnah, Machil, Keran, Kalaroos, Gagal, Kamkadi, Budhnumbal, and Jumagund, Marsari and Chowkibal. At least 4 to 5 ft of fresh snow had accumulated on 80-km-long Karnah-Kupwara road near high-altitude Sadhna Top.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 07:23:55 +0000
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