Flights, trains delayed due to dense fog
Gopal Sharma
JAMMU, Dec 18: The winter capital- Jammu of J&K Union Territory woke up to a chilling cold today as the night temperature plummeted by over two notches, settling at season’s low of 4.7 degrees Celsius, while with dense fog during morning hours in the region, the air and train traffic was affected.
An official spokesman said that with the resumption of vehicular traffic on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, over 5000 trucks which were stranded at various places in Jammu, Udhampur and Dhar Road area were cleared for Kashmir while stranded heavy vehicles bound for Jammu, Punjab and Delhi were cleared during last two days.
Due to slippery road conditions in view of heavy snowfall in Jawahar Tunnel area, the movement of vehicles is restricted during night hours. Mughal Road and Srinagar-Leh highway continued to be blocked due to heavy snowfall, he added.
A MeT spokesman said that Jammu’s minimum temperature was nearly 4 degrees below normal. It was season’s lowest temperature recorded so far. The city witnessed dense fog during morning hours as the Sun remained behind cloud cover for the second consecutive day.
With this, four morning flights were delayed at Jammu airport while about a dozen trains at Jammu were late by 30 minutes to about two hours today. The vehicular traffic was also badly affected due to fog and poor visibility.
He said the mercury is showing sharp fall across Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh over the past couple of days following heavy snowfall in the high altitude areas and Kashmir last week.
Srinagar is reeling under a low of minus 3.7 degrees Celsius, about 2.2 degrees below the season’s average normal. The famous tourist resort of Gulmarg in Kashmir was the coldest recorded place in the Valley with a low of minus 11.5 degrees Celsius while Pahalgam in south Kashmir was freezing at minus 10.3 degrees Celsius, he added.
He said Leh was the coldest recorded place with a low of minus 17.9 degrees Celsius, down by almost six notches from the previous night’s minus 12 degrees Celsius.
Bhaderwah town of Doda district, which experienced heavy snowfall on December 13-14, was the coldest recorded place with a minimum temperature of minus 3.2 degrees Celsius followed by Banihal town along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway at minus 0.6 degrees Celsius temperature.
Holy township of Katra in Reasi district, which serves as the base camp for pilgrims visiting Mata Vaishno Devi shrine, also recorded the coldest night of the season at 4.6 degrees Celsius.
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