Heavy snowfall blocks Mughal road in J-K; 120 people rescued

Over 120 stranded people were taken to safety from Peer Ki Gali along the Mughal road, which recorded the season’s first heavy snowfall over the past couple of days, a senior traffic police officer said Saturday.

The high-altitude Mughal road in Peer Ki Gali was covered with three feet of snow. The road connects the twin districts of Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu with south Kashmir Shopian.

“A joint rescue operation was launched last evening after it was reported that over 70 vehicles, mostly trucks, were left stranded on both sides due to the heavy snowfall and subsequently over 120 people were rescued and shifted safely to Surankote,” Deputy Superintendent of Police, traffic, Mohammad Rafiq told PTI.

The rescued people were mostly truckers and their helpers. Some of the sick were shifted to a hospital in Shopian, but none of them is serious, said Rafiq, who led the rescue operation, said.

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#WATCH Jammu & Kashmir's Srinagar receives first snowfall of the season pic.twitter.com/cgsRWfy3PB

— ANI (@ANI) November 3, 2018

He said snowfall was continuing in Peer Ki Gali and a snow clearance operation would begin once the weather condition improves. The Mughal road normally remains closed during the cold season owing to heavy snowfall in Peer Ki Gali area.

Meanwhile, the traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, the road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country, remained suspended for hours due to heavy rains that caused multiple landslides in Ramban district on Saturday morning, an official of the Traffic Department said, according to PTI.

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However, he said the road clearance operation was launched immediately and the highway was made traffic worthy around 9.30 am. Meanwhile, director State Meteorological department Sonam Lotus, forecast dry weather for two to three weeks from November 5.