Fresh snowfall in Kashmir, temperature drops

Fresh snowfall in the higher reaches and rains in the plains on Tuesday brought down the night temperature in Jammu and Kashmir.

An official from local met department forecast light rain and snowfall for the next two days in the state.

Terming the crackdown on separatist leadership as blot on the face of state administration, Khan said, "on one hand, the state administration continues to shower praises on Narendra Modi despite his anti-Muslim attitude and on the other, have turned the whole valley into a virtual jail".

The higher reaches of Shopian including Mughal Road, Sonamarg, Amarnath Cave, Z-Gali, Sadhna Top and Razdan Pass also received fresh snowfall.

The Srinagar-Jammu national highway was open for traffic, they said.

The winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir, Jammu, is gearing up to welcome ministers and government employees, as the secretariat shifted from summer capital Srinagar. An official of Met department said weather is likely to remain disturbed till Thursday evening "as we expect snow and rain at different places in Kashmir".

"It was 16 degrees Celsius in Jammu city, 5.9 degrees Celsius in Pahalgam, 1.9 degrees Celsius in Leh town and 3 degrees Celsius in Kargil town on Wednesday", the official said.

Qazigund the gateway town to Kashmir Valley in south received 5.6 mm of rainfall, while the neighbouring Kokernag recorded 2.8 mm of downpour.