Snowfall brings Kashmir and Himachal to standstill

Serpentine queues of trucks and buses along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway following heavy rains and snowfall

Serpentine queues of trucks and buses along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway following heavy rains and snowfall

Shimla: The spell of heavy snowfall, which paralysed Kashmir on Saturday, had in its grip Himachal Pradesh too while the tourist town of Nainital in Uttarakhand experienced a flurry of white after a gap of two years.

The first heavy snowfall of the season in Shimla and Kinnaur in Himachal disrupted traffic, telecom­m­un­ication links and supply of power and water while hundreds of tourists were stranded. Vehicular traffic was brought to a halt beyond Shoghi.

Traffic has been suspended on Kullu-Manali road due to slippery road conditions and 30 state-run buses were stranded at various places.

A car trapped under a fallen tree in Shimla on Saturday. Pics/PTI

Kashmir Valley remained cut off from the rest of the country for the second day due to heavy snowfall in many areas over the past four days while the mercury fell below freezing point at most places with Gulmarg recording the lowest at minus 8.4 degrees Celsius.

The arterial Srinagar-Jammu National Highway remained closed for the second consecutive day due to heavy snowfall and landslides. More snowfall and rain has been predicted in the Valley over the next 24 hours.

In Uttarakhand, a number of places located above 2,000 metres in both Kumaon and Garhwal regions received fresh snow including Nainital and Mussoorie while it has rained in most places in the plains, state MeT Director Vikram Singh said.

30
No. of state-run buses stranded in Jammu