Kashmir Valley receives fresh snowfall

Most areas in Kashmir received fresh snowfall on Thursday while the rest of the valley was hit by rains, bringing down the mercury levels, officials said. The snowfall started on Wednesday night at Gulmarg ski resort in Baramulla district, which is scheduled to host the Khelo India Winter Games from Friday, the officials said. On Thursday morning, there was snowfall in the rest of the Baramulla district, Kupwara district and Giurez sector of the Bandipora district as well. In south Kashmir, snowfall was reported from the Shopian district and Pahalgam tourist resort in the Anantnag district. Tourists enjoyed the snowfall with some of them experiencing it for the first time. "This place is truly a heaven on earth. It is just beautiful," Vinod Bhosale, a resident of Maharashtra told PTI in Pahalgam. Srinagar, the summer capital of the union territory, witnessed sleet -- a mix of rain and snow in the second half of the day. In the rest of the valley, light to moderate rainfall has been reported which ended three days of sunshine and brought back wintry conditions. Meanwhile, authorities have issued a medium danger level avalanche warning for areas above the altitude of 2400 metres in the Baramulla district. "Avalanche with medium danger level is likely to occur above 2400 metres over Baramulla in the next 24 hours. People are advised to restrict movement to only carefully selected safe routes with extreme care and evacuate from unprotected settlements near to the avalanche path," Jammu and Kashmir Disaster Management Authority said. (PTI)