Snowfall in higher reaches, many roads closed; rains predicted in Jammu today

Flight operations remain suspended for fifth straight day

JAMMU: The high altitude areas of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh received light snowfall on Wednesday, forcing closure of 434-km strategic Srinagar-Leh national highway and Mughal road connecting the twin districts of Poonch and Rajouri with south Kashmir's Shopian district along with several other roads were closed for traffic.

The meteorological department has issued an orange warning for the twin Union Territories for Thursday and Friday, predicting moderate to heavy snowfall and rain under the influence of western disturbance which had hit the region.

While the night temperature continued an upward trend due to overcast conditions across the region, flight operations at the Srinagar airport remained suspended for the fifth consecutive day on Wednesday due to poor visibility caused by heavy fog, officials said.

The officials said the 270-km Jammu-Srinagar national highway, the only all weather road linking Kashmir with rest of the country, remain open but the traffic was restricted to one-way.

"Light snowfall occurred at high altitude areas including the famous ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir, Pahalgam in south and Sonamarg in central Kashmir," the official said.

He said the visibility in Kashmir improved slightly and expected to improve further in the coming days.

"The weather is cloudy and foggy in plains of Kashmir and partly cloudy in Jammu and Ladakh. Moderate snow is expected in plains of Kashmir, moderate to heavy snow on higher reaches of Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh mainly during December 12 and 13," the official said, adding plains in Jammu are likely to receive moderate to heavy rain on December 12 and 13.

Due to overcast conditions, the night temperature across Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh marked an improvement and settled close to the season's average after hovering several degrees below normal during the past week.

Drass, the second coldest inhabited place in the world, continued to be the coldest place in Ladakh with a low of minus 15.3 degrees Celsius against the previous night's minus 19.0 degrees Celsius.

The minimum temperature also improved in Srinagar, which was reeling under dense fog and cold wave conditions over the past week, to settle at minus 1.4 degrees Celsius -- 0.8 degrees below normal during this part of the season, the official said.

The winter capital, Jammu, recorded a near normal night temperature of 9.5 degrees Celsius, the official said, adding the day temperature in the city had marked an improvement on Tuesday and settled at 19.4 degrees Celsius against the previous day's 16.7 degrees Celsius.

Katra, which serves as the base camp for the pilgrims visiting Vaishno Devi shrine in Reasi district of the Jammu region, recorded a low of 8.7 degrees Celsius, he said, adding the Bhadarwah township of Doda district was, however, the coldest recorded place in the region with a minimum of 2.8 degrees Celsius.

The fresh snowfall in the high altitude areas also forced closure of 434-km strategic Srinagar-Leh national highway and Mughal road connecting the twin districts of Poonch and Rajouri with south Kashmir's Shopian district, officials said.

The roads linking the border towns of Gurez in Bandipora district and Karhnah and Tangdhar in Kupwara district were also closed, while the traffic on Jammu-Srinagar national highway was restricted to one-way and only Srinagar-bound vehicles were allowed on this highway this morning, the traffic department officials said.

Srinagar-Leh national highway, Mughal Road, Bandipora-Gurez and Kupwara-Tangdhar-Karnah roads were closed on Wednesday morning following fresh snowfall at various places along these vital roads, the officials said.

All these roads usually remain closed during winter months due to heavy snowfall.

They said the snowfall is continuing along Sonamarg-Zojilla axis on Srinagar-Leh highway, the only road linking Kashmir with Ladakh, Pir Ki Gali and adjoining areas along Mughal road, Razdan top and Sadna top in north Kashmir's Bandipora and Kupwara districts.

Srinagar-Leh national highway and Mughal roads were cleared for one-way traffic only on December 8 after remaining closed for several weeks following heavy snowfall in November.

The officials said the 270-km Jammu-Srinagar national highway, the only all weather road linking Kashmir with rest of the country, remain open but the traffic was restricted to one-way.

Only Srinagar-bound vehicles were allowed to move on the highway, they said.

The traffic is playing alternatively on the highway from the twin capitals of Jammu and Srinagar since December 9, a practice which comes into force during winter to allow smooth passage of vehicles in the wake of the ongoing four-laning project.

The weatherman has issued an orange warning for the twin Union Territories for Thursday and Friday, predicting moderate to heavy snowfall and rain.

Meanwhile, flyers continued to be disappointed as flight operations at the Srinagar airport remained suspended for the fifth consecutive day on Wednesday due to poor visibility caused by heavy fog, officials said.

"No flight operations took place for the fifth straight day and all flights to and fro Srinagar were cancelled on Wednesday," an official of the Airport Authority of India (AAI) said.

He said the visibility at the airport, due to heavy fog, was less than 100 metres and such conditions were not suitable for flight operations.

"The required visibility for the flight operations is 1,000-1,200 metres. But, it is not more than 100 metres today. So, all flights for the day were cancelled," the official said.

Flight operations have been severely affected at the Srinagar airport for the past six days.

On Friday, several flights were cancelled, while no flight operations took place on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

"It is very disappointing that I had to return from the airport for the second consecutive day as the flights are not operating because of the fog," Wasim Nazir, a resident of the old city here said.

Nazir said air travel was the best option for the people in the valley as the Srinagar-Jammu national highway often remains closed in the winters.

"The highway often remains closed in the winter months and so the air travel is the best option for us. But this fog has played havoc with our plans. The airport authorities should put in place a mechanism to overcome this," he said.

For the past few days, heavy fog has engulfed most parts of the valley, affecting the visibility and causing problems to the people especially to the motorists.