Due to heavy snowfall and poor visibility on Wednesday, all flights to and from the Srinagar airport were cancelled and the 300 kms long Jammu–Srinagar highway also shut for vehicular traffic.
Heavy snowfall in Kashmir and upper areas of Jammu has paralysed normal life across Jammu and Kashmir. Landslides and shooting stones triggered on the highway due to rain have forced the authorities to suspend traffic resulting in hundreds of trucks and other vehicles stranded at various points. Snow has accumulated around the Navyug tunnel on the highway.
Snowfall has caused extensive damage to power infrastructure across Kashmir division, said the electricity department. Despite continued bad weather and low temperature, the field teams are on job for early restoration of power supply, an official spokesman said.
A high power electric transmission tower collapsed in the Balhama village of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
Roads connecting Srinagar with other districts were covered under snow and authorities have deployed men and machinery to clear the snow, reports said.
The runway of the Srinagar airport was covered under a thick blanket of snow and the visibility was reduced to about 400 metres.
“We are having continuous snowfall at our airport. Our Snow Clearing operations are also in continuous progress on runway and Apron. However the visibility is only 400M”, tweeted the Srinagar airport.
“The snowfall accumulation is continuous. We will wait for the snowfall to stop before taking decision on flight operations”, the airport authorities added. More than 22 flights were cancelled till the afternoon.
“The snowfall from the sky had stopped at about 1230 and we commenced our Snow Clearing operations with renewed effort but the snowfall has started again”, said the airport authorities.
All flights of SpiceJet Airlines and Indigo were also cancelled as there was no improvement in weather.
Several flights of Air India, GoAir and other airlines to Jammu, Delhi, Mumbai and various other destinations were also cancelled.
Ramban’s Deputy Commissioner said it was raining heavily on the national highway from Udhampur to Banihal. Shooting stones reported on road at Cafeteria Morh, Maroge and Panthyal. No fresh traffic being released from either side.
Heavy snowfall was reported in most areas of Ramban since last night. The District Emergency Operation Centre (DEOC) has been activated.
Electric supply in many areas was disrupted due to snow and rain.
The Srinagar city recorded heavy snow. Commissioner, Srinagar Municipal Corporation alongwith other officials visited the SMHS Hospital, Kara Nagar, Rajbagh Batamaloo areas to oversee ongoing snow clearance.
District authorities across the Kashmir valley have launched snow clearance operations. The tourist destinations of Gulmarg and Pahalgam in Kashmir and Patnitop, Sanasar, Bhaderwah etc in Jammu had heavy snowfall since yesterday.
Due to overnight heavy snowfall a number of trees were uprooted in Srinagar and fell on 11KV electric feeder resulting in disruption of power supply in many area.The field staff are on job for early restoration of power supply, KPDCL said.
The public service commission cancelled examinations and interviews for various posts.