3 day long snowfall puts normal life out of gear in valley

 

Srinagar, Jan 15, CNS: Kashmir valley continued to reel under the grip of heavy snowfall on third consecutive day on Wednesday, putting normal life completely out of gear across the region.

According to CNS the heavy amount of consecutive incessant rain and snowfall, since last more than 64 hours, has unleashed havoc all across the valley, inflicting a heavy loss to life and property.

5 civilians were killed in Kulan area of Ganderbal district, when avalanches hit the area on 13th January, while 6 soldiers and a BSF Jawan were killed when their posts were hit by avalanches in Machil, Tanghdar and Nowgam sectors. Dozens of houses across valley were damaged due to the heavy snowfall that began on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday.

Although Tuesday morning greeted valley people with a pleasant sunshine, but later in day sky was gain covered with clouds, inducing fresh overnight snowfall across the valley. In comparison to the first spell, South Kashmir recorded more snowfall in the fresh spell.

In upper reaches of Kulgam district, including Qazi Gund and Jawahar Tunnel area there was not let up in the snowfall since Tuesday.

Srinagar received 6 inches of fresh snowfall, without a let up resulting in water logging of many important city roads. Many commuters were forced to abandon their vehicle and walk the distance on foot, as the roads became quite slippery despite continuous removal of snow from roads by the administration.  Even as men and machinery were seen on their toes to deal with the situation, but despite the hard by the administration, many areas in the city submerged under the water. Meanwhile people preferred to stay back home, while those who came out had to wade through water. Residency road and Maulana Azad roads remained partially submerged under water.

According to CNS upper reaches of South Kashmir received the maximum Snowfall.  Pulwama recorded 6 inches, Tral one and a half feet, Kulgam 8 inches, Pahlgam 4 inches, while Anantnag received 6 to 10 inches of fresh snowfall. In Mandgiri Kulgam, a house belonging to Kahzir Mohammad collapsed under the snow, while the roof of Jamia Msjid in Waral suffered heavy damage.

Qazi Gund received about 2 feet of fresh snowfall. Jawahar Tunnel connecting Srinagar with Jammu, received about two and a half feet of fresh snowfall, while on the other side of tunnel, in Bnihal area also 2 feet of fresh snowfall was recorded, resulting in the closure of Srinagar Jammu highway, which was thrown open on Monday morning at 11 for one way traffic from Srinagar to Jammu, but with no let up in the snowfall in the day, highway was gain closed for the traffic

Officials said that from Banihal to Udhampur thousands of trucks and passenger vehicles are presently stranded, waiting for the highway to open. There was huge amount of snow on the highway in Banihal region, blocking the road, which authorities were in continuous effort of removing. On the other side in several areas of Ramban district landslides struck the area making the movement of vehicular traffic impossible.

Meanwhile in North district of Kupwara, Sadhna Top in Karnah Tehsil recorded about three feet of one and half feet of fresh snowfall, while as low lying areas in the region received 10 inches. Due to the unprecedented snowfall in the region, Karnah and Tangdhar area remained cut off from the district head quarter Kupwara, since the road remained closed for a third consecutive day on Tuesday.

Upper reaches of valley including Gulmarg and whole Peerpanchal region witnessed medium to heavy snowfall during the period, while authorities did not withdraw avalanche warning issued on Monday, given to the heavy snowfall in these areas.

In Budgam district all the link roads remained blocked with snow till Wenesday evening, as there was no effort visible from the administration towards removing of snow from these link roads. In Tangmarg area several houses are reported to have suffered damage to the heavy snowfall. In Sokhnag area of Khansahab and on Srinagar Bugam road via Aarath small JCBs were used in failed attempt to clear the snow from roads.

 In Kangan area of Ganderbal district people said that no snow clearance operation was conducted by the administration, resulting in difficulty to vehicular movement on Kangan Sonmarg highway.  Officials from beacon told CNS that their men and machinery is occupied with snow clearance in the upper reaches, where situation is more critical, while the officials from Roads and Buildings (R&B) department said that they have only one JCB and they are doing whatever they can with that one JCB.

Meanwhile Metrology department has predicted another two day long spell of snowfall, beginning from 17^th January, while light to moderate rainfall at isolated places in Jammu division on Friday and Saturday.