All flights at Sgr, 7 in Jammu cancelled
Fayaz Bukhari
SRINAGAR/JAMMU, Feb 4: Snowfall across the Kashmir valley affected normal life with all the flights cancelled at Srinagar airport, while traffic on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway was disrupted for over five hours after landslide in Banihal area of Ramban sector today.
Reports said most parts of Kashmir including Srinagar received snowfall with the weatherman forecasting a drop in temperatures across the region from tomorrow.
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With the snowfall the flights from Srinagar Airport were cancelled today. The Director Srinagar Airport said: “All the flights have been cancelled for the day due to bad weather at Srinagar today.”
In Jammu, seven flights were cancelled due to bad weather and the impact of Kashmir snowfall while four others were delayed.
It started snowing early in the morning, blanketing entire plains while higher reaches in North and Central Kashmir accumulated more snow.
Director MeT office Srinagar, Mukhtar Ahmad said that plains received 3-6 inches of snowfall while 8-12 inches were recorded in the middle and higher reaches of Kashmir Division.
Another official said that Sadhna in Kupwara received 2-3 feet of snow, Machil over one ft, Karnah 2 inches, Chowkibal 7 inches, Kupwara town 6 inches, Bandipora 4 inches, Gurez one ft, Lolab 9 inches, Baramulla 5 inches, Sopore 5 inches, Pattan 5 – 6 inches, Gulmarg 8 inches, Uri 4 inches, Rafiabad 7 inches, Tral 2 inches, Bijbehara 2 – 3 inches, Srinagar 2 – 3 inches, Budgam one inch, Ganderbal 3 inches, Anantnag one inch, Pulwama 2 inches, Shopian 3 inches, Kokernag 3-4 inches, Qazigund 4 inches and Pahalgam 5 inches.
The MeT director said that as expected, improvement in weather over many parts of J&K and few places may receive intermittent light snow/rain for a brief period till late evening. “There will be dry weather till 13 Feb 13,” he added.
He said that the minimum temperature is expected to fall sharply and cold wave-like conditions are likely to prevail over many places in Kashmir from tomorrow onwards.
As ‘Chillai-Kalan’, the 40-day harsh period of winter ended on January 29, Kashmir is presently in the middle of 20-day-long winter period called ‘Chillai-Khurd’ that ends on February 18 and is followed by a 10-day-long period ‘Chillai-Bachha’ (baby cold) which starts from February 19 to February 2008.
The authorities have issued avalanche warnings for hilly areas of Kashmir, urging the residents to avoid unnecessary movement for the next 24 hours.
Officials at Ramban said that a landslide struck Jammu-Srinagar National Highway at Kishtwari Patheri near Sher Bibi area around 11.15 am, bringing traffic to a halt. During early morning hours also the movement of traffic was not allowed in view of slippery road conditions in Banihal area besides south and north side of the tunnel.
The road clearance agencies pressed men and machinery and managed to clear debris, restoring a partial run of vehicles after nearly five hours.The road at the landslide hit area has been rendered single-lane. The stranded vehicles were cleared while no vehicles from Jammu or Srinagar side were allowed to move.
Most parts of Ramsu-Banihal-Srinagar stretch of the highway recorded snowfall, while the rest of the 270-km highway was lashed by rain.
Officials said the helicopter service to Mata Vaishno Devi shrine atop Trikuta hills in Reasi district also remained suspended during the day due to inclement weather.
Bhairo Ghati area of the shrine along with nearby areas witnessed fresh snowfall while the plains, including Katra town, recorded 2.6 mm of rainfall, they said.
Snowfall was also reported from Poonch, Rajouri, Kishtwar, Doda, Bhaderwah, Kud, Patnitop, Latti, Dudu Basantgarh, Bani and Sarthal areas besides besides upper reaches of Reasi.
The officials said a pregnant woman in need of medical help was taken from the snow-bound remote Senapathi-Paristan area of Ramban and admitted in the Public Health Centre Ukhral. In Doda area, the Dy Commissioner was closely monitoring snow clearance work in the remote areas.
Meanwhile, minimum temperature dropped today, Srinagar recorded a low of minus 0.7°C against minus 1.7°C the previous night and it was normal for the city for this time of the year.
Qazigund recorded a minimum of minus 2.2°C against minus 5.4°C the previous night. The minimum temperature was 0.1°C below normal for the town.
Pahalgam recorded a low of minus 3.5°C against minus 8.3°C the previous night and it was 2.6°C above normal for the resort.
Kokernag recorded a minimum of minus 3.0°C against minus 5.4°C the previous night and the temperature was above normal by 0.6°C for the place.
Kupwara town in north Kashmir recorded a low of minus 1.9°C against minus 2.4°C the previous night and it was 0.4°C above normal.
Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 7.0°C against minus 10.6°C the previous night and the temperature was above normal by 0.6°C for the skiing resort.
Srinagar recording a maximum of 3.0 degree Celsius today which was 5.9 degree Celsius below normal for the city for this time of the year.
Qazigund recorded a maximum of 2.4 degree Celsius which is 6.1 degree Celsius below normal for the place during this time of the year.
Pahalgam recorded a maximum of minus 1.2 degree Celsius which is 6.8 degree Celsius below normal for the place during this time of the year.
Kupwara recorded a maximum of 5.6 degree Celsius which is 2.9 degree Celsius below normal for the place during this time of the year.
Kokernag recorded a maximum of minus 1.4 degree Celsius which is 8.0 degree Celsius below normal for the place during this time of the year.
Gulmarg recorded a maximum of minus 1.6 degree Celsius which is 3.0 degree Celsius below normal for the place during this time of the year.
Jammu recorded a minimum temperature of 14.3 degree Celsius and minimum 9.6, Katra maximum 10.5 and minimum 6.8, Bhaderwah maximum 4.8 and minimum 0.2 while in Banihal it was maximum 2.4 and minimum 0.2 deg C today.
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