Gulmarg, Pahalgam, other higher reaches experience snow, rain in plains

Srinagar, Nov 2: The world famous tourist destinations of Gulmarg, Pahalgam and other higher reaches in the Kashmir valley experienced fresh snow since Thursday evening while plains, including summer capital, Srinagar, were lashed by rain resulting in drop in the day mercury while minimum temperature was above normal.

Due to strong winds last night followed by rain, majority areas in Srinagar electricity supply has been disrupted after transmission lines were damaged while other metered and unmetered areas are facing frequent power failure for hours without any prior information.

A Met department spokesman said here there could be snow and rain in the Jammu and Kashmir during the next two days.

Tree tops, open fields and roof tops had turned white as fresh snowfall was experienced in world famous ski resort of Gulmarg, 50 km from here in north Kashmir district of Baramulla since last night. It was snowing at Affarwat, Seven springs, Khilanmarg and other higher heights.

Tourists and locals were out on slopes, covered under white blanket, since early this morning taking photographs and enjoying snowfall.

We expect now rush of tourists, particularly adventure lover and skiers, local associated with the industry said. However, they said due to wrongly projecting Kashmir during television debates, tourists stayed away in summer.

The upper heights, including the areas near the Line of Control (LoC), experienced moderate to heavy snowfall since last night.

Keran, Karnah, Gurez, Tangdhar, Z-Gali, Sadhna and Razdan passes in north Kashmir also experienced light to moderate snowfall during the past 24 hours. Dozens of far flung and remote villages were also cut off from their respective district and tehsil headquarters due to snowfall.