Srinagar, February 08 (KMS): In occupied Kashmir, the Srinagar- Jammu highway remained closed for the third consecutive day, today, due to snowfall and slippery road conditions.

The traffic police official told media men that the highway would remain closed for vehicular traffic on Monday because of fresh snowfall and slippery road conditions in Jawahar tunnel area. He said that nearly 500 vehicles carrying passengers and goods were stranded on the highway and had been parked at safe spots along the road between Udhampur and Bannihal towns.

Some places received heavy snowfall while others received moderate to little snowfall in the occupied territory during the last three days. “Srinagar city received insignificant snowfall while it was heavy in Gulmarg, Sonamarg, Pahalgam and other mountainous areas,” the weather office said. "The minimum temperature in Srinagar was 1 degree Celsius on Monday. It was minus 3.4 degrees in Kargil and minus 3.6 in Leh town," it added.

The locals have welcomed the snowfall received during the past three days as the valley had hardly any snowfall during the past month. “All the valley's agricultural and drinking water needs are linked to the local rivers whose discharge depends on the availability of snow in the mountain reservoirs and glaciers,” said Habibullah, a resident of Ganderbal district.
  »