The longest dry spell in a decade in Kashmir ended as Srinagar and other parts of the valley got the season’s first heavy snowfall.
The heavy snowing in Srinagar city brought relief to the people as it rescued them from the grip of an intense cold wave which had led to the partial freezing of lakes and water bodies The snowfall in the month of January is a good omen for the tourism industry of Kashmir as there has been less tourist trickle in the 2016 because of the six-month long unrest and violence. Over four feet snow has accumulated in the world famous skiing resort of Gulmarg, brightening the prospects of winter sports including high end arrival of those tourists who will go for hill-skiing. J&K tourism department has already decided to hold a snow festival in Gulmarg at the end of January. There had been a marginal increase in the tourist traffic soon after the separatist leaders jointly appealed tourists to visit Kashmir and promised them their safety and security.
Due to heavy snowfall, the Srinagar-Ladakh road and Shopian-Mughal Road have been closed for traffic. There has been heavy snowfall in the health resort of Sonamarg, forcing the authorities to close the road from Sonamarg to Gumri, which leads to Ladakh. Similarly, the Mughal Road has witnessed one of the heaviest snowfalls of the season and the traffic has been closed from Shopian to Peer ki Gali, which leads to Rajouri in Jammu.
Reports said that authorities have closed Srinagar-Jammu national highway because of heavy snowfall which is going on near Jawahar Tunnel and Banihal stretch. With the closure of highways, the problems of local residents have increased with increased power cuts.