Over 2000 vehicles are stuck on the Jammu-Srinagar highway after heavy rain and snow.
The Kashmir Valley remained cut off from the rest of the country for the third consecutive day as the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, hit by snow and heavy rains, stayed closed. Air traffic also remained suspended as all flights from the Srinagar airport were cancelled.
Mangal Singh is among the hundreds stranded on the highway for the past two days. The truck driver has been learning new things, one of them is cooking his own food. He has bought a gas stove and utensils from nearby Udhampur and went in search of vegetables and rice. The truck will be his kitchen and bedroom till the road reopens.
"We are on the highway since yesterday. We are not allowed to move ahead... we are told it is snowing heavily, cold weather and rains are making it very difficult for us," said Mangal Singh.
He is not the lone camper on the highway. Over 2000 vehicles -- mostly trucks and tankers carrying food and fuel -- are stranded on this highway. Motor mechanics and others who live off the highway have also been affected.
"When vehicles don't ply on this road, we also don't get any work. There is no electricity and I can't do the welding without power... all business people of the market are idle," said Rahu Parrey, a motor mechanic.
Jammu and Kashmir has been hit be very heavy snowfall over the last few days. On Wednesday, 15 people died in four avalanches in Gurez and Sonmarg. Eleven of the deceased were soldiers. A family of four civilians died too. Many soldiers are said t be missing after two avalanches had stuck Gurez in quick succession last evening. The search for them is being hampered due to bad weather.