Season's heaviest snow disrupts air, rail, road traffic in Jammu and Kashmir; rain grip rest of north India

Daily life was thrown out of gear in Kashmir as the seasons heaviest snowfall hit air rail and road traffic and disrupted power and water supply on Saturday while Uttarakhand shivered due to snow and intermittent rain causing temperatures to dipMadhya Pradesh recorded overnight showers due to a western disturbance and other weather phenomena Rain also lashed parts of Punjab and Haryana for a second consecutive day while several places in Rajasthan received light to moderate showersDelhi meanwhile recorded 412 mm rainfall in the 24 hours ended at 830 am An active western disturbance and its interaction with easterly winds are causing light to moderate rainfall and thunderstorms over northwest and central India including DelhiNCR the India Meteorological Department IMD saidIn Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah led the governments response directing deputy commissioners to personally supervise snow clearance operationsModerate to heavy snowfall was recorded across Kashmir from FridayIn south Kashmir heavy to very heavy snowfall was recorded in the plains while central Kashmirs plains received moderate snowfall The plains of north Kashmir received light to moderate snowfall officials saidThe JammuSrinagar national highway was closed for traffic due to snow The snow clearance work was hampered due to heavy snowfall at the Navyug Tunnel they saidTrain services on the BanihalBaramulla section were suspended due to heavy snow accumulation on the tracks railway officials saidAir traffic to and from Srinagar was also affected with flight operations suspended airport officials saidStuck in the snow while many sulked some chose to allay their hardships by playing cricket inside the outofbounds 85kilometre Navyug Tunnel in Kashmir The tunnel connects Banihal town in Ramban district of Jammu with Qazigund in south Kashmirs Anantnag districtMany were forced to spend the night inside their vehicles in the freezing temperatureIn a heartwarming display of Kashmiri hospitality locals in Gund on the SrinagarSonamarg highway opened the doors of a mosque to shelter a group of travellers from Punjab stranded due to the heavy snowfallDirecting the deputy commissioners to personally supervise snow clearance operations Chief Minister Abdullah stressed the importance of ensuring 100 per cent attendance of doctors and paramedical staff at district and subdistrict hospitalsHe issued instructions to the Budgam deputy commissioner to coordinate with the airport authorities to assist stranded touristsIn a post on X he said most of the dysfunctional power feeders in the valley had been restoredHe also made an unannounced visit to the district hospital in Ganderbal and assessed the services available during the inclement weather and reviewed the availability of essential medicines staff on duty and functionality of the central heating systemIn Uttarakhand most hill districts were in the grip of severe cold due to continuous snowfall in the upper reaches of the mountains and intermittent light showers coupled with cool winds sweeping the lower areasThe higher reaches of the hills of Auli Harshil Hemkund Sahib Chopta Dayara Lokhandi Sukki Top Munsyari and Pithoragarh were blanketed with snowThe Badrinath national highway was closed between Pandukeshwar and Badrinath because of accumulation of snow which was being clearedThe JoshimathNiti highway connecting the border with China was also shut beyond Suraithotha while the ChamoliKund national highway connecting Kedarnath and Badrinath was closed between Dhotidhar and Makku BendRain affected electricity supply in 10 villages of Nauti area of Karnaprayag A fault in a 33 kV line disrupted power supply in all villages of Dewal development blockElectricity supply was also disrupted in 20 villages of Dungari area of Tharali development block and 21 villages in Sankot area of NarayanbaghIn Delhi the day was overcast and chilly after the city recorded its highest singleday December rainfall in 101 yearsThe national capital recorded 412 mm rain in the 24 four hours ended at 830 am causing daytime temperatures to remain below normalThe IMD said the city recorded the highest singleday December rainfall on December 3 1923 at 757 mmThe 24hour cumulative rainfall ending at 830 am is the secondhighest since 1901 at Safdarjung The monthly rainfall is the fifthhighest an IMD official saidDelhis maximum temperature was recorded at 158 degrees Celsius 46 notches below normalThe minimum temperature was higher than usual on account of the rain at 127 degrees Celsius six notches above averageIn Rajasthan Jhalawar district recorded 86 mm rainfall Some places in the states eastern parts including Dausa and Alwar reported hailstormsDense to very dense fog was recorded in some areasChandigarh the common capital of Punjab and Haryana recorded a maximum temperature of 151 degrees CelsiusIn Punjab Amritsar registered a day temperature of 148 degrees Celsius while Ludhiana recorded 154 degreesIn Haryana the maximum temperature in Ambala was recorded at 153 degrees Celsius Hisar 165 degrees Karnal 146 degrees Rohtak 157 degrees Sirsa 174 degrees and Gurugram 158 degreesChandigarh Patiala Pathankot Fatehgarh Sahib Rupnagar Ambala Karnal Sirsa and Yamunanagar recorded rainfall during the dayThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever