NEW DELHI: Border Security Force troops and Pak Rangers exchanged fire on Friday along the Anupgarh sector of the India-Pakistan International Border in Rajasthan, officials said.

No casualties were reported on the Indian side even as the BSF has decided to lodge a “protest” with their Pakistani counterparts and have sought a flag meeting on Saturday, a BSF spokesperson said.

He added that Pak Rangers short first as they fired 6-7 rounds at 2 pm “on BSF troops” who were present ahead of the border fence as part of a ‘kisaan guard’ deployment meant to escort and protect five local farmers working in their farms.

“In retaliation, the BSF ‘kisaan guard’ party fired about 18 rounds on Pak Rangers,” he said.

No injury or casualty to the BSF or the farmers has been reported in the incident that took place along the Anupgarh sector in Sriganganagar district of the state, the spokesperson said.

“A protest is being lodged and a flag meeting has been called,” the official said.

It is very rare that troops exchange fire along the Thar desert comprising Rajasthan front of the IB that also runs along Gujarat, Punjab and Jammu, a senior officer said.

India and Pakistan pledged in February 2021 to exercise complete ceasefire on this front. There have been, however, one or two incidents of violation of this deal since then, including once in the Jammu area in September this year when Pakistani troops fired on a BSF patrol in the Arnia sector.

SRINAGAR: Light rain lashed plains while upper reaches including Gulmarg received fresh snowfall, meteorological department here said on Saturday.

It also forecast generally cloudy weather with light rain and snow at scattered places mainly over higher reaches during the next 24 hours and mainly dry weather from December 11-20 in Jammu and Kashmir.

An official of the department said that Gulmarg received 11cm of snowfall and Leh 0.1cm in the last 24 hours till 8:30 a.m. today. There were reports of snowfall in Gurez valley of Bandipora, Sonamarg in Ganderbal and some upper reaches of the Valley.

Also, the MeT official said that Srinagar received 0.9mm of rain, Qazigund 2.6mm, Pahalgam 2.3mm, Kupwara 5.5mm, Kokernag 5.6mm, Jammu 1.0mm, Banihal 9.4mm, Batote 13.8mm, Katra 2.6mm and Bhaderwah 3.2mm during the time.

Meanwhile, there was further rise in minimum temperature amid cloud cover last night with Srinagar recording a minimum of 2.8°C against 1.0°C on the previous night. While there was also special weather phenomenon of mist this morning, the MeT official said, today’s temperature was 3.4°C above the normal for this time of the year in Srinagar.

Qazigund recorded a low of 2.8°C against 0.2°C on the previous night. The temperature was 3.6°C above normal for the gateway town of Kashmir, he said.

Pahalgam recorded a low of 1.2°C against 0.7°C on previous night and it was 4.4°C above normal for the famous tourist resort in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, he said.

Kokernag recorded a low of 2.3°C against 1.1°C on the previous night and it was 3.0°C above normal for the place, he said.

Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 3.4°C against minus 3.0°C on the previous night, the official said. It was 1.2°C above normal for the world famous skiing resort in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, the official said.

In Kupwara town, the mercury settled at 1.3°C against 1.0°C on the previous night, the official said. It was 3.0°C above normal for the north Kashmir place, he said.

Jammu recorded a low of 13.2°C against 12.7°C on the previous night. It was 3.2°C above normal for J&K’s winter capital, he said. Banihal recorded a low of 4.8°C (above normal by 2.7°C), Batote 4.6°C (0.6°C above normal), Katra 12.2°C (3.6°C above normal) and Bhadarwah 4.8°C (3.5°C above normal).

In Ladakh, Leh recorded minus 4.8°C, the official said.

“In next 24 hours, generally cloudy weather is expected at many places with snowfall at isolated places, mainly over higher reaches,” he said, adding, “From November 11-20, mainly dry weather is expected. However, brief spell of light rain/ snow may occur at isolated places over higher reaches,” he said, “From tomorrow, expect warmer days and colder nights.”He said there may be temporary disruption in surface transportation over major passes today.

NEW DELHI: Elections in Jammu and Kashmir may be held next year after winter conditions subside, and the timing would depend on the security scenario in the union territory, sources said on Friday.

The final electoral roll of Jammu and Kashmir was published on November 25, paving the way for polls, the first since Article 370 provisions were abrogated and J&K was bifurcated into two Union territories in 2019.

But with winter conditions setting in, the polls could take place in the summer of 2023 keeping the latest security situation in mind, the sources said. The harsh winter conditions may leave the poll authorities with little option but to hold the exercise in the summer of next year.

Weather and security are the two parameters which will guide the poll authorities in deciding on the poll schedule, the sources said. Holding polls in Jammu and Kashmir is entails a massive logistical exercise due to the terrain and the security situation with thousands of personnel from central armed police forces being deployed to ensure peace and free and fair polls.

The electoral exercise in Jammu and Kashmir is usually spread over a month.

The revision of the electoral rolls was done after a gap of nearly three years. It was last carried out with reference to January 1, 2019 as the qualifying date. The electoral rolls could not be updated after the abrogation of provisions of Article 370. Later, the constituencies were redrawn following a delimitation exercise.

Following the delimitation, the number of assembly seats have gone up from 83 to 90, excluding the seats allocated to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. The final electoral rolls of Jammu and Kashmir were published on November 25 with the highest-ever addition of more than 11 lakh voters, officials had said.

Taking into account the deletion of names from the electoral rolls, the net increase stood at 7,72,872 electors, they said. The final electoral rolls have a total of 83,59,771 electors — 42,91,687 males, 40,67,900 females and 184 third gender.

During this special summary revision period, a record 11,40,768 claims were received for inclusion of names in the electoral rolls across the Union territory. Out of these, 11,28,672 claims were accepted and only 12,096 claims were rejected. These included 3,01,961 claims of inclusion in the age group of 18-19.

A total of 4,12,157 requests for deletion were received, out of which 3,58,222 were accepted and 53,935 were rejected. There has been an addition of 613 new polling stations in the Union territory. The gender ratio of the final electoral Roll has increased from 921 to 948.–(PTI)