Forty-one labourers were buried alive in an avalanche in Uttarakhand, two persons were killed in Jammu and arterial roads were cut off as heavy snowfall and rains hit parts of north India on Friday. The threat of another avalanche loomed over the higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh.
Rains pounded Jammu and Himachal Pradesh for the third day on Friday, prompting authorities to close schools in several districts.
The mercury dropped in most parts of Punjab and Haryana due to the rain.
Forty-one BRO workers were trapped under an avalanche near the high altitude border village of Mana in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, officials said. The snowslide had initially buried 57 men but 16 were rescued.
The avalanche buried a BRO camp between Mana and Badrinath, Chamoli District Magistrate Sandeep Tiwari said.
Mana, three kilometres from Badrinath, is the last village on the India-Tibet border at a height of 3,200 metres.
Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have left for the spot amid continuing snowfall and rain.
In Jammu, a woman and her son were killed when a boulder from a hillock hit their two-wheeler near Moungari in Udhampur district.
Eleven labourers were rescued by a joint team of police and the SDRF from the Ujh river in the Rajbagh area of Kathua district early Friday. They were staying in a shed adjoining a construction site and their lives were in danger due to a swollen water body, officials said.
The driver of a dumper was also rescued by police and SDRF personnel after his vehicle was submerged in the Tawi river in the Niki Tawi area, they said.
High altitude areas received moderate to heavy snowfall, prompting the closure of various roads.
The strategic 270-km Jammu-Srinagar national highway, which was closed around 7 pm on Thursday, also remained closed due to snow accumulation between Ramsoo and Qazigund, and shooting stones, landslides and mudslides at various places between Nashri and Banihal.
Overnight snowfall affected rail, air and road connectivity in Kashmir, according to officials.
While rains lashed the plains, the higher reaches of the valley, including tourist resorts of Gulmarg, Sonamarg, and Pahalgam, received moderate to heavy snowfall. Srinagar saw light snowfall.
The weather is likely to improve from Friday afternoon, the meteorological office said.
All morning flights at the Srinagar airport were delayed due to the weather. Operations resumed after 11 am as the weather improved, they said.
Train services on the Budgam-Baramulla section were also affected due to heavy snow accumulation along the tracks, they added.
The Jammu and Kashmir government on Friday extended the winter vacations for schools in the Valley and winter zone areas of the Jammu division by six days in view of the weather conditions.
The schools will now reopen on March 7, according to an order issued by the Department of School Education.
Heavy snowfall and rains also triggered landslides and blocked roads in Himachal Pradesh.
About 200 roads have been closed due to heavy snowfall across the state, cutting off several areas in Kullu, Lahaul and Spiti, Kinnaur, Chamba and Shimla districts from the rest of the state, officials said.
An avalanche warning has been issued for tribal areas and other higher reaches of the state above 2,300 metres and people have been advised to restrict outdoor movement, they said.
All educational institutions, including colleges, have been closed in Chamba and Manali. However, the CBSE Board examinations will be held as scheduled, they added.
In Kullu, heavy rains inundated Akhara Bazaar and Gandhi Nagar. The administration has restricted vehicular movement beyond Nehru Kund due to fresh snowfall at Solang Nallah, Gulaba, Atal Tunnel and Rohtang.
A landslide at Banala disrupted traffic on the Manali-Kiratpur national highway. Restoration work has not yet started due to shooting stones, police said.
According to a weather bulletin, Kothi received the highest snowfall at 120 cm till 8.30 am on Friday, followed by 115 cm in Khadrala and 75 cm in Keylong, 46 cm in Kalpa, 38.8 cm in Kukumseri, 23.5 cm in Sangla, and 15 cm each in Nichar and Moorang.
Seobagh recorded 113.2 mm of rainfall, Bhuntar 113.2 mm, Banjar 112.4 mm, Jogindernagar 112 mm, Salooni 109.3 mm, Palampur 99 mm and Chamba 97 mm.
The sky remained heavily overcast and the meteorological office has issued an 'orange' warning for heavy snowfall at isolated places in Lahaul and Spiti and Kinnaur districts and in the higher reaches of Chamba, Kullu, Shimla, Mandi, Sirmaur and Kangra districts.
It has forecast light to moderate rains with spells of heavy rains at isolated places in Chamba, Kullu, Shimla, Mandi, Sirmaur and Kangra districts.
In Punjab, Amritsar received 17.5 mm of rain, Ludhiana 5.8 mm, Patiala 7.2 mm, Bathinda 1 mm, Faridkot 6.1 mm, Gurdaspur 20.7 mm, Ferozepur 10.5 mm, Hoshiarpur 20.5 mm and Mohali 3 mm, the meteorological office said.
In Haryana, Ambala received 6.2 mm of rain, Hisar 2.8 mm, Karnal 4 mm and Rohtak received 0.6 mm of rain.
