Mercury plunges as snow, rains hit Kashmir, Himachal & Uttarakhand

SRINAGAR/SHIMLA/DEHRADUN: After a warm Sunday, temperatures dropped sharply across Kashmir Valley, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand as snowfall and rains lashed many parts of the northern hill states on Monday.

Snowfall was reported from Sonamarg in north Kashmir and Sadna Pass in Kupwara district, while Srinagar saw a heavy downpour in the afternoon. Heavy snowfall at Pir ki Gali led to the closure of Mughal Road that connects Kashmir with Jammu’s Poonch and Rajouri districts, leaving around 100 vehicles stuck. Several stranded passengers took to social media, and appealed to the administration to rescue them.

The Met department advised people to avoid boating and shikara rides due to gusty winds, and warned that there were chances of possible landslides and occasional rains in higher reaches and on Srinagar-Jammu highway.

Amid an orange alert in Himachal, light to moderate rainfall was recorded in parts of Kullu, Mandi, Bilaspur, Kangra, Chamba, Lahaul-Spiti, Solan, Sirmaur and Shimla districts. Thunderstorms, hailstorms and gusty winds were also reported in some areas. Mercury plunged by several notices across the state.

In Uttarakhand, Kedarnath saw fresh snowfall in the afternoon even as the annual pilgrimage continued, with authorities maintaining close vigil over the weather conditions and the flow of pilgrims. Rudraprayag DM Vishal Mishra said the Char Dham yatra was proceeding smoothly, though chopper services had been disrupted due to unfavourable weather conditions.

SP Niharika Tomar said coordination among the administration, police and disaster response teams has been intensified in view of the weather alert, with contingency measures in place. Police have strengthened traffic and crowd management along the route. The entire route is under camera surveillance, enabling quick response and decision-making to ensure minimal disruption to the yatra, police said.

IMD predicted thunderstorms accompanied by lightning, hail, intense to very intense rainfall and gusty winds (40-50 kmph) at isolated places on Tuesday across several districts, including Dehradun, Haridwar, Tehri, Pauri, Nainital, Champawat and Udham Singh Nagar.