Snowfall and heavy rainfall in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday claimed lives of three members of a nomad family and another was critically injured after their makeshift tent was buried under debris of a landslide triggered due to incessant rains in Noorpora area of Tral in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
Four members of a nomadic Gujjar community were critically injured due to the landslide and three succumbed in hospital.
Temperature across Jammu and Kashmir dipped considerably as the iconic tourist spots Gulmarg and Pahalgam had snowfall and the plains of Jammu experienced heavy rain.
The strategic Jammu-Srinagar highway and the Moughal Road linking Rajouri and Poonch with Kashmir are shut due to snow.
The upper reaches of Jammu also had season’s first snowfall. Shopian in south Kashmir registered 6 inches of snow till 10 am. The temperature at Gulmarg has dipped to -1 degree Celsius.
Srinagar was also lashed with rain.
Deputy Commissioner, Ramban, said that 4 inches of snow has been recorded between Banihal-Mangit Road as a result of which traffic has been suspended on the highway.
Due to continuous heavy rainfall, power supply has been disrupted at several places.
Continuous rain, shooting stones and landslides were hampering restoration work on the Jammu-Srinagar highway. Landslides at Marog, cafeteria morh and shooting stones at many places between Nashri and Banihal have been reported.
The Jammu-Srinagar national highway is the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country.
The weatherman has forecast wet weather in the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh for the next 24 hours and said there will be a significant improvement from 24 October afternoon.
Banihal in Ramban district recorded the highest 47.8 mm of rainfall during the past 12 hours till 8.30 am on Saturday, followed by 33.8 mm in Katra, the base camp for the Mata Vaishno Devi pilgrimage.
Jammu recorded 12.8 mm of rainfall and a minimum temperature of 15.1 degrees Celsius, 1.6 degrees below normal during this part of the season.