The divisional administration had yesterday directed the traffic department to allow only one-way traffic on the only road link between Kashmir and rest of the country in order to avoid any passengers or vehicles getting stranded on the road.
The Jammu and Kashmir Disaster Management Cell today issued a medium-danger avalanche warning at Banihal on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway as gusty winds blew across the summer capital, uprooting trees and electricity poles at some places.
"A medium avalanche warning has been issued for Banihal area on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway as the prospects of snowfall have brightened during the day," an official of the disaster management cell said.
The divisional administration had yesterday directed the traffic department to allow only one-way traffic on the only road link between Kashmir and rest of the country in order to avoid any passengers or vehicles getting stranded on the road, he said.
However, the traffic authorities allowed two-way traffic on the 294-kms road, paying no heed to the weather warnings, the official said.
He said a similar warning has been issued for Sonamarg area on Srinagar-Leh road.
The fresh warnings are in addition to the areas which have already been declared as avalanche-prone over the next 48 hours.
These areas include Gurez, Tangdhar, macchil, Keran and Gugaldara along the Line of Control in north Kashmir.
The residents and security forces in these areas have been advised to avoid venturing close to the mountain ranges during snowfall and choose their routes carefully, in case of unavoidable circumstances for their movement.
In Srinagar city, strong winds blew intermittently through the afternoon.
Many trees and electricity poles were uprooted in the city due to the wind, official sources said.
They said electricity was snapped for nearly an hour as a precautionary measure.
Gloomy weather, coupled with icy winds, led to the city roads getting deserted as people headed for their homes to avoid getting caught in heavy snowfall predicted by the weatherman.
The police personnel posted along the banks of Dal Lake evacuated the tourists who were enjoying Shikara ride in the water body.
So far, there are no reports of anyone getting injured or major damage to the property due to the winds.
The official said the Gulmarg bowl, which is attracting hundreds of tourists these days, was not prone to avalanches but the higher reaches of Gulmarg and Khilanmarg were not as safe.
"The tourists and school children at Gulmarg are enjoying the skiing and there is no danger there.
The Gulmarg-Tangmarg Road has been cleared of snow and is motorable," he added.
Meanwhile, moderate to heavy snowfall has been reported from many remote areas of Kashmir Valley with Sadhna Top, on the road to Karnah in Kupwara district, registered nearly four feet of snow.
Gulmarg has received one foot of fresh snow while it was snowing in Baba Reshi (three inches), Tangmarg (two inches) and Shopian in south Kashmir (five inches).
Meanwhile, authorities in Kargil district of the state today launched snow clearance operations to rescue five persons trapped under the debris of a house, which collapsed due to a rock slide.
"Operations are on to rescue the trapped persons. There are at least five persons inside the house which collapsed due to rock slide," an official said.
The incident took place at village Garkone in Batalik sector of Kargil district.
Among the trapped family members are two males, two females and one child.
Civil administration has also sought the help of army and the 14 Corps of the army has deployed a unit to assist in the rescue operations.
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