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Snowfall disrupts flight operations in Valley
From early morning, the plains and the mountains of the Himalayan Kashmir valley recorded light to moderate snowfall while the Jammu division experienced rains in plains and snow in upper reaches
Widespread snowfall was experienced across Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, including in summer capital Srinagar, prompting cancellation of all flights for the day at Srinagar International Airport, officials said.
From early morning, the plains and the mountains of the Himalayan Kashmir valley recorded light to moderate snowfall while the Jammu division experienced rains in plains and snow in upper reaches.
The summer capital Srinagar witnessed over 3 inch snowfall accumulation on its landscape for the first time this winter.
The snowfall also accumulated on the airstrip of the Srinagar Airport prompting the cancellation of flights. “All flights have been cancelled for the day due to bad weather at Srinagar,” a spokesperson of the airport said.
The traffic was partially restored on Srinagar Jammu Highway in the afternoon allowing stranded vehicles (one way) after the national highway was blocked at Kishtwari Pather, Sherbi due to landslides in the morning. “Stranded vehicles are being cleared in a regulated manner. It is snowing between Ramsoo and Banihal while it is raining on the rest of the highway. People are advised to avoid journey on the highway till weather improves,” said J&K Traffic Police on ‘X’ in an update at 3.30pm.
Men and machinery from mechanical and hospital engineering department (MED) and Srinagar municipal corporation(SMC) were pushed into service early hours to clear snow from the roads and water from the inundated areas across the valley.
“As people were praying for snowfall, the administration was planning on how to remove the snow and mitigate the problems arising out of the precipitation. We have a road network of 3,000 km, half of which is cleared by MED and another half by SMC. The roads are open as the clearance work is going on and snowfall is not severe,” said Srinagar deputy commissioner Bilal Mohi-ud-din Bhat.
He said the plan on clearing some 6,500 lanes and bylanes of Srinagar has also commenced while power has by and large been restored. “The power has also been restored. Of the 275 power feeders, only 11 are in outages which will be restored soon,” he added.
The Indian Meteorological Department’s (IMD) centre in Srinagar said that light snowfall of 3-6 inches was recorded in the plains while 8-12 inches was observed in the middle and higher reaches of Kashmir division.
“There was light to moderate rain with thunder over plains of Jammu Division and light to moderate snow over middle and higher reaches,” said Srinagar MeT Centre’s director Mukhtar Ahmad.
Cloudy weather with light to moderate snow likely on Monday
He said that Monday will experience generally cloudy weather at few places with light to moderate snow likely to continue over many places till the afternoon/late afternoon and gradual improvement thereafter. “On February 5, the weather will be partly to generally cloudy with possibility of light snow over isolated higher reaches,” he said, informing that the weather will remain dry from February 6.
Avalanche warning issued for eight districts
The J&K Disaster Management Authority issued an avalanche warning for eight districts of the union territory.
In a warning, the authority said that a medium danger level of snow avalanches is likely above 2, 400 metres above sea level over Bandipora, Baramulla, Ganderbal, Kupwara, Doda, Kishtwar, Poonch and Ramban districts in the next 24 hours. “People living in these areas are advised to take precautions and avoid venturing in the avalanche prone areas till further orders,” it said.
The administration said that the supply of essentials and gas was in sufficient quantity despite the disruption of traffic on the highway for the past four days.
“There are issues (of traffic) on the road (highway) but we have enough stocks. We have 75,000 LPG units which will suffice for 18 days. We have enough rice of 17,000 MT, wheat is 4,600 MT. Similarly our HSD and MSD are enough for 15-20 days. We are fully prepared,” said Srinagar DC Bilal Mohi-ud-din Bhat.
The valley has received snowfall since Monday as the 40-day harshest winter period of Chila-i-Kalan in Kashmir ended with scant precipitation. The Himalayan valley, known for its glaciers, snow covered mountain slopes, blue lakes and gushing rivers, witnessed a prolonged dry spell since the beginning of December this winter leading to dry and parched landscape and riverbeds with little water.
