Vaishno Devi shrine receives season’s first snowfall
The famous Vaishno Devi shrine atop Trikuta hills experienced the season’s first snowfall as moderate to heavy snow and rains lashed wide parts of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh for the second consecutive day on Friday disrupting normal life, officials said.
Snowfall ranging from five inches to over three feet has accumulated at various places, especially in Kashmir, which remained cut-off from the rest of the country following the closure of the Jammu-Srinagar national highway for the second day and cancellation of all flights to and fro the Srinagar airport for the seventh day, they said.
“As expected widespread moderate to heavy snowfall occurred in most parts of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh and is still continuing. The present condition is likely to prevail for the next 12 to 24 hours,” Director, Meteorological Department, Sonam Lotus said.
However, he said the significant improvement in weather, including visibility in Kashmir, is expected from Saturday onwards, while another spell of lesser intensity is likely to hit the region on December 20-21.
The officials said the Vaisno Devi shrine in Reasi district of the Jammu region witnessed first snowfall of the season, forcing the suspension of the helicopter service to the pilgrim site.
However, the pilgrims continued their journey by foot to pay their obeisance at the shrine.
Besides Bhawan, Bahiron Ghati, Sanjichhat and Himkoti and the serpentine route in the shrine area received nearly one feet of snow till this afternoon, the officials said.
After heavy rains on Thursday, the residents of Srinagar woke up to a thick layer of snow, third this season, when it was still continuing. The city had recorded around five inches of snow till Friday afternoon.
The snowfall threw life out of gear as the day temperature in the city plummeted several degrees, while the night temperature also marked a dip to settle at minus 1 degree Celsius, which is, however, normal during this part of the season, the officials said.
