The Meteorological Department of Jammu and Kashmir issued an avalanche warning after “moderate to heavy snow” in the area. According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the snowfall from Wednesday is expected to continue until January 8.

“J&K’s upstream areas have received moderate to heavy snow and are prone to avalanches,” the meteorological department said in its consultation.

“People living in these areas are required to take precautions to avoid taking risks in avalanche-prone areas,” it further said.

The heavy rainfall in the plains and the snowfall in the upper reaches aggravated the cold wave in the entire Jammu area and put normal life into trouble.

Traffic on the 278 km long Jammu-Srinagar National Road has also been suspended. There are reports that rocks and mudslides have occurred on the hills overlooking the highway from different places such as Carroll, Samroli, Digdor and Ramsu.

On Wednesday, a boulder on a small hill hit their car on a national highway near Lampan, killing a 29-year-old man and injuring another, prompting the authorities to suspend traffic on this strategic road. Vaishno Devi Shrine was also suspended on Thursday morning.

The mild snowfall also reduced visibility, and 37 flights at Srinagar International Airport were cancelled on Wednesday.

With hundreds of passengers stranded, the cancellation of flights caused chaos at the airport. They came to Kashmir to celebrate the New Year, when most places in the valley had snow around Christmas.

IMD said in its forecast on Wednesday that the western interference is likely to leave the northern part of the country on January 8 or 9, causing weather conditions to improve.

“From January 9th, we have no other western disturbances in our monitoring. After that, the weather will improve,” senior IMD scientist RK Jenamani told the news agency ANI.

Complete News Source : Hindustan Times