42 flights cancelled in Srinagar, 16 at Jammu airport

People walk through a snow-covered orchard during heavy snowfall in Tangmarg area of Baramulla district. -Excelsior/Aabid Nabi
People walk through a snow-covered orchard during heavy snowfall in Tangmarg area of Baramulla district. -Excelsior/Aabid Nabi

Rain, heavy snowfall wreak havoc across J&K

Fayaz Bukhari/
Gopal Sharma
SRINAGAR/ JAMMU, Jan 4: While 42 flights were cancelled at Srinagar Airport and 16 in Jammu due to inclement weather and poor visibility in Kashmir today, the rain and fresh snowfall wreaked havoc across Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh UTs since last night.

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Season’s first snowfall in Kashmir valley led to dip in temperatures and disrupted air traffic leading to cancellation of almost all the flights from Srinagar Airport.
Director Srinagar Airport, Kuldeep Singh, told the Excelsior that 42 flights including one International flight scheduled to and fro Srinagar airport, were cancelled today.
He said that 43 domestic flights were scheduled to and from Srinagar airport, adding that 41 were cancelled while three flights including two scheduled ones took off from the airport this evening after slight improvement in weather.
Meanwhile, officials said that the passengers of the cancelled flights shall be rescheduled in the next available flight of the concerned airlines and that there will be no extra charges for rescheduling.
“Due to bad weather conditions and poor visibility at Srinagar and Leh airport today, 16 flights (to & fro) have been cancelled from Jammu airport,” S K Garg, Director, Jammu Airport said.
He said that the flight operation to all other destinations remained normal, adding, “the flights are arriving on scheduled time at Jammu airport from different parts except at Srinagar and Leh where the operation remained suspended due to heavy snowfall.”
Many parts of Kashmir including the famous ski-resort Gulmarg, Sonamarg, Srinagar and others experienced fresh snowfall, bringing down the temperature further.
The weatherman has predicted more snow and rain till January 9. The Meteorological department (MeT) said that there is a possibility of light to moderate snowfall in J&K and Ladakh till January 9.

A view of Mahu area of Khari tehsil in Ramban district. -Excelsior/Parvaiz Mir
A view of Mahu area of Khari tehsil in Ramban district.
-Excelsior/Parvaiz Mir

As per the advisory, two successive Western Disturbances are most likely to affect J&K and Ladakh till January 9. The main activity would be on January 5 and January 8, it said, adding that the system is likely to cause heavy rain/snow in Pirpanjal range of Jammu division (from Bhaderwah to Banihal), upper reaches of Kashmir (Gulmarg, Sonamarg, Baramulla and Kupwara and Drass sub division of Ladakh Union Territory).
The advisory maintained that the fresh snowfall would disrupt surface and air transport including Srinagar-Jammu highway, the only road connecting the Valley with the rest of the States.
There is a possibility of avalanches and landslides in vulnerable areas and also disruption of power in hilly areas as well, it said, appealing people not to venture out in sloppy areas during snowfall.
Meanwhile, authorities said that the major roads including Mughal Road, Srinagar-Sonamarg-Gumri road and others shall remain closed for the traffic in view of snow accumulation.
Although the Srinagar-Jammu highway, the only road connecting Valley with rest of the country was open for traffic, the officials, however, appealed people to undertake journey along the highway only after confirming the status of the road from Traffic Control Rooms.
Srinagar received one inch of snowfall today and there is forecast of more snowfall for tomorrow.
Gulmarg received 18 inches of snowfall and Kangdori hills overlooking it received over 2 feet of snowfall, Tangmarg 7 inches, Z-Gali in Kupwara 30 inches, Furkiyan to 29 inches, Sadna Top 30 inches, Kupwara six inches, Dawar 16 inches, Razdan Top 32 inches, Issmarg two feet, Tulail 2 feet and Bandipora 3 inches.
Shopian received 3 inches of snowfall, Sedow one feet, Keller six inches, Heerpora one feet and Doubjan 2 feet.
In Jammu region, the temperature dipped today after rains lashed the plains of Jammu and a fresh spell of snowfall took place in the hilly areas.
The day temperature dipped today after spell of rains and snowfall in parts of Jammu division. The MeT has already predicted that Western Disturbance will hit Jammu and Kashmir from January 3 to 9 following which the administration has issued advisories. The higher reaches of Doda, Kishtwar, Ramban, Poonch, Udhampur and Reasi received fresh snowfall.
A white blanket layer of the snowfall covered the higher reaches of hills in Doda, Bhaderwah and Kishtwar and the temperature in the area dipped across the region. The power supply in many hilly and snow bound areas has been snapped. Entire Pancheri -Mongri-Landhar and Dudu-Basantgarh area was without power supply since this noon, the reports said.
A Traffic Police officer said that light rain continued in the region since last night but Jammu-Srinagar National Highway was operational till late Tuesday evening. There was about 6-7 inch snowfall in Jawahar Tunnel area this evening and the road at Jawahar Tunnel turned slippery. The authorities then made new Banihal-Qazigund road tunnel operational, though it has not been formally commissioned by the Union Government.
There was fresh snowfall at Pir Panjal, Natha Top in Patnitop, Seoz Dhar in Bhaderwah and several higher reaches of Udhampur, Kathua, Reasi, Rajouri and Poonch. It was snowing in Patnitop area late this evening, report said.
Chopper service to Mata Vaishnodevi Shrine from the base camp Katra remained suspended today due to inclement weather while battery car and on-foot pilgrimage continued despite rain throughout the day. Due to fresh snowfall at Daggan Top, Mahore-Gool road was blocked this afternoon. However, it was cleared after 2-3 hours by the R&B authorities.
Meanwhile, Jammu divisional administration has issued a list of important Helpline Numbers of Jammu Division in view of the Weather Advisory from January 3 to 9.
According to the communique, various divisional as well as district control rooms have been established by various key line departments for receiving calls for prompt action. The people can contact concerned department in their respective districts in case of any exigency, it added.
Due to rain, the normal life remained out of gear in Jammu city while a thin attendance was witnessed in most of the offices. The waterlogging at several places and chowks affected smooth flow of traffic. Majority of the people preferred to stay indoors in view of rain during the day today.