Cold, dry weather result in frozen water bodies in Doda
Fayaz Bukhari/
Gopal Sharma
SRINAGAR/JAMMU, Dec 19: Five flights were cancelled and eight delayed in Jammu while flight operations from Srinagar airport were partially disrupted today due to foggy weather conditions today while continuous dry weather has resulted in frozen water bodies in upper Chenab region.
An official from the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said that at least seven flights scheduled for today were cancelled at Srinagar airport.
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“These include Air India flights AI-3423/3424 and AI-1799/1810 to and from Delhi, which were cancelled due to bad weather in the national capital.”
He said that the IndiGo flights 6E-6164/6165 to and from Amritsar were cancelled due to adverse weather conditions at Amritsar, while SpiceJet flight SG-661/664 operating on the Srinagar-Delhi sector was also cancelled owing to bad weather in Delhi.
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“In addition, SpiceJet flight SG-180/181 and IndiGo flights 6E-6961/6962 (Srinagar-Kolkata sector) and 6E-2044 were cancelled due to operational reasons,” he said.
Airport authorities advised passengers to reconfirm the status of their flights with the respective airlines before heading to the airport and expressed regret over the inconvenience caused.
Director Airport Authority, Jammu, S K Garg said that five flights were cancelled, eight delayed and one diverted from Jammu due to dense fog during morning and evening hours.
He said one flight during morning hours was diverted to Chandigarh but it operated later in the day when the weather improved. He said some evening flights were also affected with the dense fog. In view of dense fog for the last couple of days, the flight operation in the northern region has been badly hit, Garg added.
The vehicular movement was also badly affected in Jammu and Samba areas during morning and evening hours. The City was totally engulfed with the thick clouds of dense fog. The vehicles were seen moving with their head lights/dippers on during morning and evening hours.
Meanwhile, Kashmir is bracing for wet weather from tomorrow evening that is likely to lead to snowfall in the hills of North and Central Kashmir and rains in the rest of the Valley.
A MeT official said that the next 24 hours will remain largely dry, with only minimal chances of precipitation in isolated pockets. “From the evening of December 20, cloudy weather will set in, with possibilities of rain in plains and snowfall over mountainous areas,” he added.
“December 21 may witness fairly widespread rainfall in plains and snowfall in higher reaches, especially in north Kashmir and parts of Jammu region. He added that upper areas of north Kashmir may receive up to one foot of snowfall, while plains of Kupwara could see 2-3 inches of snow and Srinagar may receive 1-2 inches.”
“Similar conditions are expected in parts of central Kashmir, with isolated pockets receiving snowfall. Another weak western disturbance is likely around December 22, followed by mostly dry but cloudy weather till December 24. Dry weather is expected to prevail till December 28.”
The temperature has started dropping in Jammu with the thick clouds of fog. A MeT official said that winter capital city Jammu recorded a minimum temperature of 9.9 degrees Celsius today, Katra 9.2 deg C, Bhaderwah 2.3 deg, Banihal 3.5 deg, Rajouri 2.4 deg C, Doda 6.7 deg, Kathua 8.8 deg, Udhampur 4.2, Samba 5.4 and Ramban registered 6.7 deg C on Friday.
Meanwhile, hilly Doda district is facing severe water crisis as prolonged cold and dry weather have resulted in frozen water bodies and in potable water crisis, as not only the water level in streams and rivers receded drastically but also dozens of natural water springs have also got dried.
Due to no precipitation since last more than two months Neel Ganga river, the lifeline of Bhaderwah valley, has dropped below zero to record low levels at several key areas, deepening the water crisis and sending the locals in a tizzy as several other natural streams and springs of fresh water have also started drying up.
Dr Cheering Tandup, HoD Institute of Mountain Environment Bhaderwah Campus said, “We are near to reach January but during last three months there is no snowfall in Jammu and Kashmir or for that matter in entire Indian Himalayan region so far which is major phenomenon of climate change due to which we are facing many crisis especially our water bodies are drying up very rapidly.”
“Due to no precipitation since long, several crisis are generating, like dozens of fresh water bodies especially streams and springs are drying up and water level in Neel Ganga River has almost vanished which is a serious cause of concern and can result in severe water crisis in Himalayan region,” Dr Cheering added saying,” activation of Western Disturbance is long awaited and as per the metrological department and opinion of experts, hopefully we can see snow and rain in Himalayan region which will surely bring some respite from the ongoing weather scenario.”
Beside environmentalists, dry weather and extreme cold wave conditions have also send locals in a tizzy as water crisis has started hitting hard especially drying up of springs has emerged as major cause of concern for coming days.
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