A fresh spell of snowfall on Friday affected both air and surface link connecting the Kashmir Valley with the rest of the country, while two persons died in two separate incidents.
All the 26 flights scheduled for the Valley were cancelled due to poor visibility and snowfall that started on Thursday night. It’s for the first time since 1990 that the air traffic at the Srinagar Airport remained closed for seven consecutive days till Friday.
Valley cut off
The road network, which included the Srinagar-Jammu Highway, the Srinagar-Poonch Highway and the Srinagar-Kargil Highway were also cut-off due to accumulation of snow. The Jawahar Tunnel, connecting Srinagar with Jammu, received two to three feet of snow. The Moghul Road was closed due to accumulation of six-feet of snow at Pir Ki Gali.
“Around 500 stranded passengers are being provided temporary shelter on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway”, said Sub-District Magistrate of Banihal, Zahoor Ahmad.
One person died on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway when his vehicle met with an accident on Thursday evening. The snowfall has also halted the Sringar-Banihal train service in South Kashmir.
Kashmir Valley’s tourist destinations Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Sonemarg also received two to four feet of snow.
In a separate incident, a Power Department employee died when he was working during the snowfall on a defunct transformer in Central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district. The snowfall has also affected the power supply in many districts of the Valley, stopping the heating gadgets used to warm houses in this cold weather.
Life hit in Srinagar
The snowfall also badly affected life in Srinagar where many roads saw accumulation of snow and water. Baseer Khan, Divisional Commissioner of Kashmir, said he has issued directions to the officials to restore all roads connecting essential installations like hospitals and power receiving stations. The Meteorological Department has predicted more wet weather in the next 24 hours.
“The Valley is likely to witness moderate to heavy snowfall in both plains and upper ridges on Saturday, said the Met officials.
