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Kashmir reels under heavy snowfall

– PHOTO: NISSAR AHMAD

INSIDE KASHMIR: Tourists out on a picnic in Gulmarg on Saturday following heavy snowfall.

SRINAGAR: The search for 11 persons feared buried under an avalanche at 14,500 feet in Uri sector continued for the fourth day on Saturday while the Army raised the compensation for relatives of the eight porters killed to Rs.1 lakh each.

The rescue and search operations are continuing in the avalanche-hit area of Uri even as the rest of Kashmir braced itself for tackling problems stemming from heavy snowfall.

“There has been no success in finding the missing persons due to heavy snowfall in the area,” said an Army spokesman here.

The spokesman said the search operations in the avalanche-hit area of Baramulla district were continuing and the Army Chief, General Deepak Kapoor, had announced additional compensation of Rs.50,000 each for the next of kin of the civilian porters killed in the mishap. On Thursday the Army had announced ex-gratia of Rs.50,000 each after some of the bodies were found.

An Israeli tourist was injured after he slipped off the steep slopes at the world famous ski resort of Gulmarg, said the police.

Jan James Mcacco was injured when he suffered a fall on the ski slopes while coming downhill from Kongdoori to Gulmarg, said a police spokesman. “Mcacco has been hospitalised,” he added.

Meanwhile, there was no trace of the Norwegian tourist Franciska Rogny, reported missing since this past Tuesday.

Rogny has been in the habit of going on adventure skiing in the upper reaches of Gulmarg – which was under six feet of snow on Saturday -- and had returned six days after being reported “missing” under similar conditions last year.

Rogny arrived in Gulmarg, 55 km from Srinagar, in Baramulla district of North Kashmir on Tuesday and left after checking into a hotel room. She did not return till late in the evening that day, prompting the authorities to launch a massive search operation.

Meanwhile, according to a report from Shimla, the tourist resort of Sangla in Kinnaur was cut off from the rest of Himachal Pradesh for the second day on Saturday due to glacial ice coming down while an alert was sounded in Lahaul-Spiti in view of a heavy snowfall.

People in the higher reaches of the districts near the India-Tibet border have been advised not to venture out alone and to avoid glaciated areas, said Kinnar Deputy Commissioner A. S. Rathore.

He said glaciers in the area were coming down due to continuous snowfall but Sangla, which was totally cut off on Friday, had recovered somewhat with the BSNL network being restored at some places.

The postal service, however, has come to a complete halt.

Efforts were on to clear snow accumulated on the Rekong Peo-Kaza road and the Lahual-Spiti district administration had sounded a general alert due to heavy snowfall, officials added.

Cold wave conditions intensified further in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh on Saturday as the minimum temperatures fell sharply at most places in the region with Amritsar turning out to be the coldest at 1.5 degrees Celsius which was three notches below normal.

Ambala in Haryana had a low of 4.5 degrees Celsius and was followed by Hissar, which settled at a low of 6.3 degrees Celsius.

Chandigarh witnessed a fall of 4 degrees Celsius with the Union Territory recording a low of 5 degrees Celsius as compared with 9 degrees the previous day.

The weatherman has forecast partly cloudy conditions in Punjab and Haryana during the coming 24 hours. Ground frost is also likely to occur at a few places in the two States. - PTI

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