Several hilly areas cut off from the rest of the States; communication network down; more rain, snow likely Northern India was fully in the grip of cold weather conditions on Sunday with widespread snowfall in the hilly areas even as the winter claimed its first casualties in Jammu and Kashmir where two teenaged girls lost their lives after being trapped beneath an avalanche. In Jammu & Kashmir, two teenaged girls were killed after being buried alive under a mound of snow when an avalanche struck in the Gurez area in North Kashmir’s Bandipora district, the police said. A massive search operation was undertaken to recover the bodies of Shafeeqa Bano (18) and Dilshada Bano (16), who met with the mishap when they had gone to fetch water from Kishenganga river. Temperature The area was one of the several parts of Kashmir that received snowfall in the past 24 hours. Srinagar recorded 1.8 cm of snowfall while the minimum temperature in the city increased last night from —3.9 degrees Celsius to settle at a low of 0.3 degrees. Qazigund received 13 cm snow while the Pahalgam hill resort received 17 cm snow and recorded a low of —2.4 degrees. The ski resort of Gulmarg received 15 cm snowfall. The minimum temperature increased in Leh also as the mercury touched —6.2 degrees as against —12.4 degrees on Saturday. The forecast is for light rain or snowfall at a few places in the State with a decrease in precipitation over the coming two days. Rainfall In Uttar Pradesh, light to moderate rainfall was reported at isolated places over the last 24 hours. Deoband received 30 mm rainfall followed by Nakur, Saharanpur and Bijnore (10 mm each). The lowest temperature in U.P. was 7.5 degrees C recorded at Orai. Punjab and Haryana too received light to moderate rainfall at a few places even as the minimum temperature stayed above normal levels. Dense fog, that had paralysed normal life in the two States in the past days, lifted from many places, bringing comfort to the people. Chandigarh received 9.9 mm rainfall while Ludhiana experienced showers measuring 14.1 mm. Ambala got 1.4 mm and Panchkula received 14 mm rain. The minimum temperature in the area was above normal levels. In Rajasthan, dense fog continued to disrupt normal life for the second consecutive day with poor visibility affecting road and rail traffic across the State. Mount Abu recorded the lowest temperature in the State on Saturday, touching freezing point. Twenty-two trains were rescheduled and running late due to heavy fog in North India, a North-Western Railway spokesman said. - PTI Season’s first snowfall in Himachal Kanwar Yogendra adds All the major mountain districts of Himachal Pradesh, including the famous tourist towns of Manali and Shimla, received a spell of snowfall on Sunday bringing cheer both to the tourists and local residents. There are reports of very heavy snowfall in the higher reaches of Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur districts and mild rain in the lower elevated areas that has also broken the prolonged dry spell in the State. More than four feet of snow has been reported from 13,000 feet high Rohtang Pass and about one foot of snow in Khoksar village, the gateway to Lahaul-Spiti district which is now cut off from the rest of the State. About 2 to 4 feet of snowfall is reported from various hill localities of Kinnaur district, including the picturesque Kalpa and Rekong Peo towns. The higher reaches of Kullu and Chamba districts have also received 3 to 5 feet of snowand suffered an acute power shortage. A number of far-flung areas are cut off from the rest of the State with all the communication network being snapped, said the weathermen. Shimla and nearby tourist resorts like Kufri, Mashobara, Fagu and Narkanda have also experienced mild to moderate snowfall during the day. Shimla, where it snowed in the third week of December after a gap of 21 years, received 10 cm snow and recorded a minimum of 0.2 degrees C. Among the places where it rained, Kangra was the wettest with 55 mm rainfall while Dharamsala and Chamba recorded 45 mm and 40 mm respectively. The minimum temperature in Manali was 1.2 degrees below the freezing point. Keylong in Lahaul-Spiti district was the coldest place at minus 4 degree Celsius and it was 7.2 degrees above the freezing point in Dharamsala, minus 3 degrees in Kalpa and 0.2 degrees in Shimla. Three persons were reported to be trapped in snow near Rohtang Pass and a rescue team headed by the SDM has been sent to the spot. Meanwhile, the Rohtang Pass has been closed for vehicular traffic. The Manali-Leh highway was also closed due to heavy snow. The farmers in the State are also considering the current snow and rainfall good for their crops as the early snow acts as ‘white manure’ for the apple. Rain in Garhwal region Staff Correspondent adds Light rain over Garhwal region and the season’s first snow in Dhanaulti near Mussoorie and Chakrata on Sunday brought cheers to farmers who could expect a good crop now. “The winter rain were delayed this year and could have had an adverse impact on crops had it not rained now,” said Virendra Rawat of Barkot. The maximum temperature in Dehradun city on Sunday was 12.2 degrees Celsius.