The onset of Chillai Kalan, the 40-day harshest winter period in Kashmir, has brought rain and snowfall to the Valley and ended a long and dry spell.

The declining snowfall in Kashmir over the years has been a cause for major concern, prompting chief minister Omar Abdullah to pitch for artificial snow to rescue tourism, the Valley’s mainstay.

Chillai Kalan, which offered little respite to Valley residents last year as it remained largely dry barring two brief spells of snow, on Sunday broke a two-month dry spell that had intensified ailments such as cough and cold.

Chillai Kalan begins on December 21 and is followed by 20 days of Chillai Khurd (small cold) and 10 days of Chillai Bacha (baby cold).

The higher reaches of Kashmir received snowfall and the plains were soaked in rain on Sunday, igniting hope of a precipitation-packed winter.

Nearly five inches of snow had accumulated at the Gulmarg tourist resort in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district by Sunday evening, officials said.

Sonamarg received two inches of snowfall by the middle of the day.

Sadhna Top, the pass connecting the Tangdhar sector along the Line of Control to the main Kashmir Valley, received six inches of snow.

Tourists and residents were seen enjoying the season’s first snowfall.

The Valley plains, including Srinagar, had to be content with intermittent rains,
but there was respite from sub-zero temperatures as the precipitation pushed up the mercury.

The weather department has forecast increased snowfall and rain in the Valley over the next 48 hours.

The administration is banking heavily on snow to revive winter tourism, which was dented by the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people in April.

The traffic police control room (TPCR) on Sunday issued an advisory regulating vehicular movement on hilly roads across the Valley.

The advisory said traffic on hilly roads would be permitted strictly in accordance with the prescribed cut-off timings and advisories. Motorists and commuters have been advised to confirm their travel timings, by contacting the traffic police control room on the designated helpline numbers, before startingtheir journeys.

There was good news from Northern Railway, which said the first freight train to Kashmir had arrived from Jammu on Sunday. The train carried grains from the Food Corporation of India.

The advisory said traffic on hilly roads would be permitted strictly in accordance with the prescribed cut-off timings and advisories. Motorists and commuters have been advised to confirm their travel timings, by contacting the traffic police control room on the designated helpline numbers, before starting their journeys. There was good news from Northern Railway, which said the first freight train to Kashmir had arrived from Jammu on Sunday. The train carried grains from the Food Corporation of India. The rail link is an attempt to surmount a logistical challenge that Kashmir has been battling for decades: national highway closures triggered by adverse weather. The depot manager at FCI Kashmir, K.L. Mina, said the train, which had started from Punjab and stopped over in Jammu, had ferried more than 1,384 tonnes of food grains in 21 wagons. FCI officials said a second train with 42 wagons of essential food commodities was expected to arrive soon. Last week, a special train delivered arms, ammunition and heavy engineering equipment to the army in Kashmir. PTI

The rail link is an attempt to surmount a logistical challenge that Kashmir has been battling for decades: national highway closures triggered by adverse weather.

The depot manager at FCI Kashmir, K.L. Mina, said the train, which had started from Punjab and stopped over in Jammu, had ferried more than 1,384 tonnes of food grains in 21 wagons.

FCI officials said a second train with 42 wagons of essential food commodities was expected to arrive soon.

Last week, a special train delivered arms, ammunition and heavy engineering equipment to the armyin Kashmir.