Snowfall in the mountains in Kashmir, rain in the plains killed 4 people

(PTI) Srinagar, Dt
Snowfall in mountainous areas and heavy rains in the plains in Kashmir killed three people while the apple crop suffered extensive damage. Traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway and Mughal Road connecting Srinagar to the country was disrupted due to landslides caused by heavy rains in some areas along with snowfall in the hilly regions of Jammu. On the other hand, five more members of the trekking team were found dead near the Himachal Pradesh border, while two trekkers were still missing.
The landslide caused damage to a tent set up by nomadic tribes and injured three people, including two women, one of whom is in critical condition, according to officials. Moderate snowfall was recorded in Gulmarg, Sonmarg, Pahalgam, Shopian and Gurez areas, officials said. Dras and Minamarg in Ladakh also received snowfall late on Friday night.
Five inches of snow was recorded at Pahalgam tourist resort in south Kashmir's Anantnag district and seven inches at Sonmarg in central Kashmir. The snowfall caused extensive damage to apple crops in Shopian and Kulgam districts of south Kashmir. A team of experts will assess the damage to the apple crop caused by unseasonal snowfall in some parts of the Kashmir Valley, officials said.
Meanwhile, heavy rains lashed the plains of Srinagar and Kashmir Valley, flooding many parts of the city. The meteorological department said there was a drop in rain and snowfall after Saturday evening. A landslide caused by heavy rains at Cafeteria Morh near Ramban town had disrupted traffic on the only Jammu-Srinagar National Highway connecting Kashmir with the country, officials said. Stones fell from mountains on the highway at some places between Ramban-Banihal sector.
Meanwhile, ITBP personnel found the bodies of two more members of an 11-member trekking team in Uttarkashi district near the Himachal Pradesh border in Uttarakhand. A total of five members of the 11-member trekking team in Uttarkashi have died and two more are still missing while two have been rescued and are undergoing treatment in Harsil and Uttarkashi. Following the tragedy, the forest department has now decided to ban the tracking of people in the Nanda Devi area without permission. Rs. Provision may also be made to levy a fine of Rs 5,000. The system does not have information on where and in which direction to carry out rescue operations in the wake of tracking without permission.