Srinagar-Jammu National Highway opens on Monday; Temperature dips in Valley

The night temperature across Kashmir division, except Qazigund, went down as the weather remained dry, leading to opening of the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway a day after snowfall led to its closure.

The National Highway has been opened for one-way traffic on Monday, an official of the Traffic department said, adding however, only light motor vehicles were allowed to ply.

He said only one-way traffic from Jammu towards Srinagar, has been allowed on the nearly 300 km long arterial road, the only all-weather road link connecting Kashmir Valley with the rest of the country. The highway was closed on Sunday following snowfall which had rendered the road slippery.

Meanwhile, the weather stayed mostly dry across theValley last night but the Meteorological Department (MeT) has forecast rains or snow over five days from Monday. It has warned of moderate to heavy snowfall from Tuesday till Thursday and the forecast has prompted the divisional administration to issue directions for taking precautionary measures.

The night temperature across the Valley, except Qazigundtown, dipped last night with Srinagar registering a drop of nearly three degrees from the previous night's low of minus1.3 degrees Celsius to settle at a low of minus 4.1 degrees Celsius, a MeT official said. Qazigund, the gateway town to Kashmir Valley, in south registered a low of minus 3.6 degrees Celsius, up from minus 4.2 degrees Celsius on Sunday.

The official said the famous health resort of Pahalgam in south Kashmir, which serves as a base camp for the annualAmarnath Yatra, registered a low of minus 7.2 degrees, up from the previous night's minus 3.6 degrees Celsius.

The famous ski-resort of Gulmarg, the star attraction for tourists visiting the Valley during winter, recorded a low of minus 8.6 degrees, against minus 6.0 degrees Celsius on Sunday. He said the resort was the coldest recorded place in theValley.