A fresh spell of snow hampered efforts of authorities on Saturday to reopen the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, closed now for the sixth consecutive day.
The prolonged closure of the 270-km highway, the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with rest of the country, has left hundreds of passengers stranded.
The highway was closed on Monday following heavy snowfall in the Jawahar Tunnel area — the gateway to Kashmir — and multiple landslips triggered by the incessant rains between Banihal to Ramban over the past week.
An official said about three inches of fresh snowfall had accumulated on the ground at Jawahar Tunnel.
Meanwhile, in Uttarakhand, Nainital received the first snowfall of the season on Friday, while Mussoorie, Chakrata and other places located at a height of 2,000 m and above received fresh spells of snow, leaving the highways to Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri blocked, officials said.
