Relief at last! Chillai-Khurd makes wet entry, Kashmir under snow cover

Two-day wet spell expected from Sat: MeT; Sgr-Jmu highway closed due to landslide at Sherbibi

Mubashir Aalam Wani

Srinagar, Feb 01 (KNO): As the Chila-e-Kalaan, the 40 day harshest winter period ended almost on a drynote, the 20-day ‘Chillai-Khurd’ made a wet entry in Kashmir enveloping Srinagar and other parts under the snow cover bringing much needed respite.

Snowfall was witnessed in Srinagar and other parts of the Valley including famous ski-resort Gulmarg, Sonamarg, Pahalgam and other central and south Kashmir areas. The snowflakes didn’t end the two month long dry spell in Srinagar but brought smiles on the faces of Srinagarites who were desperately waiting for the natural white cover.

According to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), during the last two days, several places have experienced snowfall in the first two days of Chillai-Khurd.

Sadhna Top has received over 4 ft of snowfall in the last two days while Gurez received 3 ft of snowfall.

As per the details, Machil and Sinthan Top recorded a snowfall of 2 ft each, higher reaches of Kathua received a snowfall of one ft, while Pir ki Gali also recorded a snowfall of over 1.5 ft.

Sonamarg in central Kashmir has recorded a snowfall of 2 ft in the last two days while Pahalgam has received a snowfall of one ft from January 31.

Moreover, several high altitude areas of Jammu province, including the cave shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi and tourist resort Patnitop experienced fresh snowfall while Jammu was affected by rains, ending the longest dry spell in the region.

The change in weather pattern also led to the closures for traffic on Jammu Srinagar National Highway due to a landslip in Ramban district, leaving over 200 vehicles stranded.

As per officials, the Srinagar-Jammu highway also remained closed due to landslides at Sherbibi area.

“The road damaged near Sherbibi on Jammu-Srinagar highway and restoration work is about to start”, traffic police said on X.

Over 200 vehicles are stranded at different points of the 270-km highway, the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country.

Meanwhile, Director Meteorological department, Dr Mukhtar Ahmad told KNO that generally dry with possibility of very light snow is expected at isolated higher reaches tomorrow.

On Saturday and Sunday, there is a forecast of light to moderate snow and rain at many places of J&K, he said, adding that the weather is expected to remain dry from February 05-12.

The local MeT department here has also issued an advisory, saying that due to intermittent moderate to heavy snow since past three days over higher reaches lead to temporary closure of roads of higher reaches and important passes, travellers are advised to plan accordingly and follow administration and traffic Police advisory