Snowfall at Mata Vaishnodevi shrine

Jammu, Feb 11 (UNI) A white carpet today greeted pilgrims at the world famous Mata Vaishnodevi's cave shrine on the Trikuta hills of Katra as snowfall and rains continued to lash Jammu and Kashmir, further lowering the mercury after a month-long dry spell.

According to sources, temperature at Bhawan (Mata Vaishnodevi shrine) dropped to shivering point as Trikuta hills received heavy snowfall last night.

''Pilgrims are coming to Bhawan. Although there is a report of small landslide on the lower third track but pilgrim movement to the cave shrine is unaffected,'' the sources said.

Widespread thundershowers continued to lash low lying areas of Jammu region while upper reaches of Poonch, Rajouri and Udhampur districts received snowfall due to the western disturbances.

Normal life also remained affected across the state on the consecutive third day as intense cold conditions forced people to prefer stay indoor.

According to the Weather Office, morning temperature in Jammu was recorded at 12.2 degrees Celsius (minimum) and 17.2 degrees (maximum).

The city also recorded 34.9 mm rainfall.

However, the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway (1A) was open for vehicular movement despite having several vulnerable points in Ramban tehsil is Doda district. ''One-way traffic is being maintained today from Jammu to Srinagar,'' SSP Ramban Basant Kumar Rath told UNI