Kashmir Valley and the mountainous districts of Jammu region remained cut off from the rest of the country on the second consecutive day owing to continuous rain and snowfall. Jammu witnessed continuous rainfall for the second day.
Landslides, shooting stones, rain and snow led to the
closure of many roads, including the 300-km long Jammu-Srinagar National Highway. More than 1,400 trucks got stranded between Jammu and Banihal, however, 160 stranded passenger vehicles were sent to Srinagar.
Air traffic was also disrupted due to snowfall in Srinagar and heavy rain in Jammu. Two out of the five flights between from Jammu and Srinagar were cancelled and the other three were delayed by over two hours on Friday. Jetlite and Go Air flights were cancelled; Indian Airlines, Spicejet and Indigo were delayed.
Deputy inspector general (DIG) (Traffic) Shakeel Beig told HT, “Due to continuous snow and land slides at various places, the highway is closed for vehicular traffic.”
He said that there would be no upward or downward movement on Saturday; only stranded vehicles would be cleared, subject to fair weather.
The weathermen said there could be a slight improvement in the weather on Saturday, however they predicted light to moderate rain and snow at most places in the state.