There was fresh snowfall in many parts of Kashmir, prompting the authorities to stop traffic on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway, scheduled to open today, and put on hold the flight operations at Srinagar Airport.
Although the weather office on Wednesday had predicted dry weather till January 14, many parts of Kashmir, including capital Srinagar, were witnessing snowfall since morning.
Director meteorological department Sonam Lotus, however, said this morning that the snowfall was ‘expected’.
“As expected, light to moderate snowfall occurred at most places of Kashmir Valley whereas weather remained dry in Jammu and Ladakh, ” he said.
The fresh snowfall has made roads very slippery in the plains causing huge problems for the commuters.
“The condition of the roads is very risky. People should avoid travel. It is better for elderly to remain indoors,” said Danish Ahmad, a city resident.
J&K had experienced four days of heavy snowfall since Sunday, disrupting surface and air traffic and throwing life out of gear in the region.
The administration came under flak for its slow response in clearing snow from the roads. The officials, for the first time in years, have also ordered rationing of gas and oil in the valley.
Two flights at Srinagar airport were cancelled in the morning while others have been delayed.
“The flight operations have been put on hold owing to the fresh snowfall,” said an airport official.
After the Sunday-Wednesday snow spell, the airport had operated flights for locals and stranded tourists on Thursday.
Similarly, work was going-on for the resumption of traffic on the Srinagar -Jammu national highway. The officials had announced on Friday that stranded vehicles between Udhampur and Banihal will be allowed towards Srinagar.
“The highway is closed again as there is fresh snowfall, ” said an official manning the traffic control room.
Cluster University of Srinagar postponed all examinations scheduled for Saturday, said an official of the varsity.
Sonam Lotus forecasted that the present snow spell in Kashmir is likely to continue till the next few hours and thereafter decrease gradually.
“It will remain overcast to cloudy today. Thereafter, mainly dry weather is expected till 20th Jan,” Lotus said.
He said that the Saturday forecast for Ladakh was for sunny weather and the same is likely to continue for the next 2 weeks.
The minimum temperatures plunged during the night again with the ski resort of Gulmarg in North Kashmir recording a low of minus 10°C.
The mercury in summer capital Srinagar plunged to minus 4 degrees Celsius against minus 0.4 degrees Celsius on the previous night.
The temperature dropped to minus 5.1 °C in Pahalgam and minus 2.8°C in Qazigund.
The valley is in the middle of the 40-day intense winter period called ‘Chillai Kalan’ which started on December 21 with sub zero night temperatures across the region.
