The Hindu : Fresh snow, rain cripple North

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 22, 2004

National

National

Fresh snow, rain cripple North

NEW DELHI, JAN. 21. Fresh snowfall in higher hills in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal today dipped mercury considerably reviving cold wave conditions in North India which was drenched by sharp showers hitting normal life.

The Jammu-Srinagar national highway, the only link between Kashmir valley and rest of the country, was closed to vehicular traffic following landslides triggered by heavy rains and snowing.

Srinagar recorded 4.3 mms of snow as the city reeled under bone-chilling cold with mercury plummeting to a low of 0.6 degrees Celsius.

Qazigund had 9.8 mms of snow, Gulmarg, the ski resort, 5 mms and Phalgam, the favourite destination for tourists, 2 mms as authorities warned of avalanche threats advising people living in higher reaches not to venture out for the next two days.

Showers lashed many parts of the State with Jammu, Batote and Katra receiving 1.2 mms, 7.3 mms and 7.2 mms of rains respectively.

In Himachal Pradesh, 22 cms of snow accumulated in Dhundi and eight cms in Solang while the tourist resort of Manali was pelted by sharp showers.

Shimla, Bhuntar and Sundernagar were in the grip of cold wave with mercury plunging to 4.7 degrees Celsius, 3.5 and 4.2 degrees respectively.

Amritsar in Punjab shivered at 4.2 degrees Celsius while rains disrupted vehicular traffic in Chandigarh. Thick fog enveloped Delhi-Ambala-Kalka section affecting movement of trains.

Cold wave intensified in Uttaranchal with higher hills in Garhwal and Kumaon receiving heavy snowfall.

Dehradun had a heavy downpour as the temperature plummeted throwing normal life out of gear.

A thick white sheet of snow covered pilgrimage towns of Badrinath and Kedarnath as chilly winds blew across the State.

Several towns in Rajasthan experienced showers with the desert town Bikaner recording 8.6 mms of rains.

Kota had 4.6 mms of rain and Jaipur, Pilani and Churu between 2 and 2.6 mms as the weather office predicted a drop in temperature in the next few days.

PTI

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