Authorities have closed the Srinagar-Leh Highway for vehicular movement due to snow accumulation at Baltal in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ganderbal District.
Baltal is a camping ground for pilgrims, 75 km from Ganderbal and 93 km from Srinagar. It is located 15 kilometres to the north of Sonmarg.The Border Roads Organisation, which develops and maintains road networks in border areas, also shared a video of the fresh snowfall.Meanwhile, the Pir Panjal range in Poonch district witnessed fresh snowfall on Sunday, as seen in the visuals.Meanwhile, Gurez Valley, in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district, received fresh snowfall on Sunday morning, with the Srinagar weather department predicting heavy to very heavy snow over the higher reaches of the Kashmir division over the next three days, starting today.Visuals showed, upper reaches of Gurez Valley, including Tulail Valley and Dawar village, received fresh snowfall on Sunday morning.Gurez Valley is located in the high Himalayas, about 86 kilometres from Bandipora and 123 kilometres from Srinagar.Following the snowfall, the authorities have reportedly closed the Gurez-Bandipora road for traffic movement.As per the seven-day forecast from the Meteorological Centre Srinagar, the minimum temperature in Sringar city will reach 3 degrees Celsius on Sunday, while the maximum temperature will reach 8 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperature will hover around one degree Celsius over the next five days, starting February 19, while the maximum temperature will be 5-8 degrees Celsius over the same period of time. Gulmarg, the ski resort in Kashmir, witnessed a minimum temperature of minus 3 degrees Celsius on Sunday.In a post on X on February 17, Meteorological Centre Srinagar said, “18-20 Feb: Light to moderate Snow/Rain over plains with heavy to very heavy snow over higher reaches of KMR Division & Pir Panjal Range of JMU Division,” it said.The India Meteorological Department predicted heavy rainfall very likely at isolated places over Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh on February 18 and 20, and over Uttarakhand on February 19 and 20. (ANI)
