Two major avalanches and several landslides had left 19 securitymen and a civilian dead and 10 others injured in the valley past two days.
After two incidents of avalanches that claimed 20 lives, authorities today shifted hundreds of people from the higher reaches as intense cold conditions revived with night temperatures plummeting to sub-zero levels in parts of Jammu and Kashmir.
Although snowfall and rain abated by last evening after lashing wide parts of the state since February 5, dozens of families in the high altitude areas in Anantnag, Kupwara and Baramulla have been shifted to safer places as a precautionary measure, official sources said.
They were shifted from avalanche-prone hamlets belonging to Gujjars and Paharis. Two major avalanches and several landslides had left 19 securitymen and a civilian dead and 10 others injured in the valley past two days.
Over 100 people were shifted from the higher reaches in Jawahar Tunnel along the Srinagar-Jammu national highway in the Peer Panchal range of South Kashmir.
Jawahar Tunnel, the gateway to Kashmir, and its peripheral areas witnessed heavy snowfall prompting the authorities to suspend traffic on the highway which connects Kashmir with the rest of the country on February 6.
Similarly, over 450 people living in the high-altitude areas near the Line of Control in Kupwara, Baramulla and Bandipora districts were also evacuated, the sources said.
They said 55 people belonging to seven families were shifted from Machi Krant village of Uri Sector, 101km from Srinagar, in view of possible landslides. Five to 10 feet snowfall was recorded in high-altitude areas today, prompting authorities to issue fresh warning to people to avoid venturing out in avalanche-prone areas.
After witnessing heavy snowfall in higher reaches and incessant rains for days, people in Srinagar and other parts had a sunny morning. In view of the clear skies, the minimum temperature dipped below zero in most parts of the state, the Met office said.
Kargil in frontier region of Ladakh was the coldest place with a minimum of minus 15 degrees Celsius. Leh, also in Ladakh, was the second with a low of minus 14 degrees.
In Kashmir valley, Pahalgam hill resort in South Kashmir, was reeling at minus 11.8 degrees followed by nearby Kokernag
(minus 6.5) and Kupwara in North Kashmir (minus 6.2). The night temperature in Srinagar was minus 2.5 degrees, one degree below normal.
Jammu region also witnessed an appreciable dip with mercury settling at 7.9 degrees - two notches below normal. Bhaderwah was the coldest place in the region with a minimum of minus 3.6 degrees followed by Banihal (minus 3.4) and Batote (minus 0.7).
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