Weather improves in North India;Jammu-Srinagar NH still closed

New Delhi, Mar 5: Weather in parts of North India which have been hit by rains and snowfall in the past few days, improved today, even though the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway remained closed for the fourth consecutive day.

"The highway remain closed for the fourth consecutive day today due to fresh landslides at Kheri in Udhampur district and Gangroo in Ramban district," a police official in Jammu said.

The highway was closed on Monday after continuous rain and snowfall across Jammu and Kashmir triggered massive landslides at various places on the highway in which a large portion of the road was washed away.

The authorities have deployed men and machinery to clear the highway for vehicular traffic, he added. In Dehradun, weather conditions were comfortable and the snow which had accumulated after an avalanche hit the Siyalekh check post on India-China border, was cleared. The national capital too had a pleasant day with the temperature settling at normal level.

"The minimum temperature recorded was 11 degrees Celsius while the maximum settled at 24 degrees. The humidity levels oscillated between 48 to 93 per cent," a MeT official in Delhi said.

While no rainfall was received in parts of Haryana and Punjab but the temperatures continued to hover below normal level. Chandigarh recorded a minimum temperature of 10.2 degree Celsius, one notch below normal level, according to the MeT department in Chandigarh.

In Punjab, Amritsar residents experienced a cold night at 5.9 degree Celsius, two notches below normal level. Ludhiana recorded a low of 9.4 degree Celsius, two degrees below normal.

Patiala, too, registered a below normal low of 9.6 degree Celsius, one notch below normal. In Haryana, Hisar's low settled at 9.8 degree Celsius, one degree below normal while Karnal recorded a minimum temperature of 8.6 degree Celsius, two notches below normal.

PTI