Srinagar-Jammu National Highway opens for traffic after remaining shut on Friday

Srinagar: The Srinagar-Jammu National Highway was thrown open for two-way traffic on Saturday, even as some areas in the higher reaches of the Valley received snow for the third consecutive day with the mercury plunging to 10 degrees below the freezing point in the famous ski-resort of Gulmarg.

The National Highway was opened for traffic on Saturday after remaining shut yesterday, an official of the Traffic Department here said. He said the traffic was allowed on both ways on the 300-km Highway, the arterial road connecting Kashmir Valley with the rest of the country. Heavy snowfall and rains had led to the closure of the highway on Friday.

The official, however, said Mughal Road, the alternate road-link connecting the Valley with the rest of the country was closed for the third day today due to heavy snowfall. Srinagar-Leh road is also closed for traffic, he said.

Some areas in the higher reaches of the Valley received snowfall and rains for the third consecutive day today bringing down the night temperatures in most places. Gulmarg, in north Kashmir, registered the minimum temperature of minus 10.6 degrees Celsius, a decrease of three degrees from the previous night's minus 7 degrees Celsius, a Meteorological Department official said. He said this was the lowest night temperature in the resort so far this winter and it was the coldest recorded place in the state.

The mercury in the other famous tourist resort of Pahalgam - which serves as a base camp for the annual Amarnath Yatra in south Kashmir plunged about seven degrees from the previous night's 0.4 degree Celsius to settle at a low of minus 6.5 degrees Celsius, the official said. He said the resort also received about 10 mm of snow and rainfall during the night.

The night temperatures also decreased in Kupwara and Kokernag towns where the minimum settled at minus 2.9 degrees Celsius and minus 1.9 degree Celsius respectively. Kupwara, in north Kashmir, also recorded 16.9 mm of snow and rains, the official said. Qazigund, the gateway town to Kashmir Valley recorded a low of minus 0.6 degree Celsius as against 0.4 degree Celsius the previous night.

There was about 3.5 mm of snow in Qazigund, the official said. The city recorded a low of 0.6 degree Celsius compared to 0.3 degree Celsius the previous night. The city also recorded about 3 mm of rainfall and snow during the night.

The mercury in Leh, in the frontier Ladakh region, went down by over three degrees to settle at a low of minus 4.6 degrees Celsius, the official said, adding the data for the nearby Kargil town was not available. The MeT office has forecast isolated rains in the Valley today and said the weather is likely to remain dry over the next few days from tomorrow.