Kashmir gets some respite from freezing cold

Srinagar: There was some respite from intense cold in Kashmir Valley on Monday as mercury rose in some areas following improvement in weather. Srinagar, which was experiencing biting cold, had a relatively warm night as the minimum temperature settled at 3.0 degrees Celsius, MeT officials said.

MeT department has predicted further improvement in weather from Tuesday. "There are chances of moderate rain and snowfall at isolated places of the valley during the next 12 hours and weather will remain pleasant," a spokesman of the department said.

However, Gulmarg ski resort in north Kashmir continued to be coldest place in the valley with a low of minus 7.6 degrees celsius. Pahalgam hill resort in south Kashmir was freezing at minus 7.4 degrees celsius.

Kargil in frontier region of Ladakh was the coldest place in the state with a minimum of minus 12.7 degrees celsius followed by nearby Leh town (minus 12.0), the spokesman said. Following improvement in weather conditions, authorities on Monday allowed traffic from Srinagar to Jammu on the national highway, which was opened on Sunday. "Since there was no snowfall and rains, the traffic was allowed from Srinagar to Jammu today," a spokesman of the traffic department said.

However, no passenger vehicle would be allowed to move on the highway from Qazigund - the gateway to Kashmir - after 12 pm as a precautionary measure. Snowfall in Kashmir valley including Srinagar last week led to the closure of the 294-km Srinagar-Jammu national highway, the only road linking Kashmir with rest of the country.

Over 2000 vehicles, which were stranded on the highway, were allowed to move from Jammu to Srinagar on Sunday after the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) cleared the highway for one way traffic. The spokesman said the clearance operation on the highway was going on to ensure early two-way traffic.

"If weather permits, the highway will be thrown open for normal traffic within the next couple of days. Till then one way traffic from either side on alternate days will continue," he said.