The Srinagar-Jammu national highway, which connects Kashmir Valley to the rest of the country, was on Sunday opened for traffic after remaining cut off for two days due to snowfall.
Traffic on the 294-km arterial road was stopped on Friday following snowfall in the areas around Jawahar Tunnel and only those vehicles were allowed to move yesterday which had been stranded a day earlier.
“The highway is open for traffic and vehicles are being allowed to ply from Srinagar towards Jammu,” an official of the traffic department told PTI.
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Meanwhile, the weather in Valley remained dry for the last 24 hours and the MET Department here has said there would not be any large change in it for a few days.
Srinagar recorded a minimum temperature of minus 3.0 degree Celsius last night, down by over two degrees from the previous night’s low of minus 0.3 deg C, a MET Department official said.
He said the mercury in Qazigund — the gateway town to Kashmir Valley — decreased over four degrees to settle at a low of minus 7.6 deg C as against minus 3.0 deg C the previous night.
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Kupwara, in north Kashmir registered a low of minus 4.0 deg C, compared to the previous night’s minus 4.5 deg C, the official said.
He said the night temperature in south Kashmir’s Kokernag settled at a low of minus 5.7 deg C, over one degree down from the previous night’s minus 4.0 deg C.
The mercury in Pahalgam hill resort, in south Kashmir, increased by almost two degrees from the previous night’s low of minus 14.3 deg C, to settle at a low of minus12.4 deg C last night.
Gulmarg, which recorded a low of minus 11.2 deg C the previous night, registered a low of minus 10.8 deg C last night.
Leh, in the frontier region of Ladakh, was the coldest recorded place in the state with a low of minus 18.9 deg C compared to the previous night’s minus 15.6 deg C.
This was the coldest night of the season in the frontier town, the official said.
The mercury in Kargil, also in Ladakh, plummeted by over six degrees from the previous night’s minus 9.0 deg C to settle at a low of minus 16.6 deg C the previous night, the official said.