Snowfall shuts Srinagar-Jammu highway, rail service

Heavy snowfall across the Kashmir Valley Wednesday forced closure of road links between the valley and the rest of the country.

The strategic Srinagar-Jammu highway was closed by the authorities for all sorts of vehicular traffic Wednesday morning following heavy snowfall in Banihal and Patnitop sectors and landslides in Ramban sector of the over-300-km long road.

The highway is the lifeline of supplies to the landlocked valley.

Heavy snowfall has also forced the railway authorities to suspend the operations of the Baramulla-Banihal train, another surface link between the valley and the Jammu region.

Snowfall started Tuesday evening and continued through Wednesday in Srinagar and all other parts of the valley.

While Srinagar city recorded a few inches of accumulated snow on the roads, reports of heavy snowfall have come in from Gulmarg, Pahalgam and other towns.

Electric supply was suspended soon after the snowfall began.

Authorities in Srinagar and other towns have moved out snow clearance machines to restore inter-district road connectivity, while engineers of the electric department said they were working to restore the electricity supply.