Weatherman issues ‘orange alert’ in Kashmir
Health officers asked not to leave stations in face of inclement weather
Srinagar: As upper reaches in Jammu and Kashmir witnessed snowfall and rains lashed plains, the Srinagar office of the Meteorological department on Tuesday issued an ‘orange alert’ in Kashmir saying the prevalent rains and snowfall are expected to intensify in coming days.
The wet spell started Monday night as Srinagar too received a moderate dose of snowfall. Snowfall was a also reported from all the upper reaches while as plains received rains.
Though less severe warning than ‘Red’, the ‘orange alert’ is meant to alert the authorities to be prepared for severe weather.
The alert comes a day after the weatherman issued an advisory for rains and snowfall in J&K till January 09 with the weather system likely to cause disruption of surface traffic and trigger snow-avalanches in vulnerable higher reaches.
“As expected, weather is overcast with widespread light rain/snow and moderate snow over higher reaches expected,” an official of the MeT office said in a statement.
As per the Srinagar MET office, the present weather is likely to intensify as the day progresses with moderate snow and rain expected in plains and heavy snowfall over higher reaches with main activity likely at late Tuesday night and on Wednesday in both Kashmir and Jammu.
In view of the impending bad weather, the MET office urged people to not venture out on avalanche- and landslide-prone areas, unless extremely necessary.
“Keep power/light back up (in case of power failure),” the MET office said in the handout while urging motorists to drive “very slowly and in low gear while driving on snow-bound areas.”
Meanwhile, Director Health Services Kashmir on Tuesday asked the health officers in the Valley to not leave their respective stations to deal with any emergency situation that may arise due to the prevalent inclement weather conditions.
A circular issued by the DHSK in this regard, asked the concerned Chief Medical Officers, Block Medical Officers and Medical Superintendents to ensure that health-care facilities in their respective jurisdictions do not get hampered due to bad weather.
The health officers have also been asked to put in place necessary heating arrangements at the health facilities and make sure that the roads leading to the hospitals are cleared from snow and tyres of ambulances are fitted with chains to negotiate slippery road conditions.
The Srinagar office of the Meteorological department on Tuesday issued an ‘orange alert’ in Kashmir saying the prevalent rains and snowfall are expected to intensify in coming days.
