Srinagar:
Man and machines are trying hard to clear the snow and rubble at Kud, half way of the Jammu and Srinagar highway. After opening for a couple of days, fresh snowfall has blocked the highway again.
For the hundreds stuck along the highway, there is also the fear of shooting stones that come down at very high speeds during a landslide.
"Electric wires and poles are broken, trees have been uprooted even shots are damaged," said Sanjeev Kumar, a local shopkeeper.
Authorities are trying to clear the snow from the road, but it will take a few hours. For those stranded on the highway, the extreme winter chill is making it difficult for them to survive.
But many of those stranded have decided to take their fate in their own hands.
After being stuck up in Patnitop for many days, these tourists are trekking to safety. They'll have to trudge 15 kilometres through these slippery slopes before they can reach safer areas.
"We have been trudging through five feet high snow, why did you come during this season? We didn't have an idea that the situation gets so worse here, locals had told us that such heavy snowfall doesn't take place here," said Rajnath Pal, a tourist.
This highway is the only road connecting the Kashmir valley with the rest of the country.
It will be some time before the highway is cleared but for those waiting here, the priority is to stay safe and to stay warm.