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| Srinagar Airport buried under snow, Vaishno Devi chopper service shelved | | |  Early Times Report
Srinagar, Feb 7: The fresh Western Disturbance which is here to stay till Thursday evening has affected normal life in Jammu and Kashmir as Valley received a fresh snowfall while as rains lashed Jammu region. The snowfall has led to the closure of Srinagar-Jammu highway and also the air traffic here due to poor visibility.
Notably, the local MeT department had already issued a warning that a fresh WD is affecting JK from Feb 05 to Feb 07 evening. The MeT prediction had also said that there is possibility of snowfall and rainfall across the Valley during these three days.
Hundreds of passengers were stranded as all flights to Srinagar were cancelled for the second consecutive day on Thursday due to heavy snowfall.
The runway of the Srinagar Airport was buried under a thick sheet of snow as a result of which all 27 flights of various airlines were cancelled.
The helicopter service at the Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu has also been suspended due to rain and poor visibility as a result of which several pilgrims were stranded.
The Kashmir valley, Ladakh, and the upper areas of Jammu were receiving continuous snowfall since Wednesday. The plains of Jammu were witnessing widespread heavy rain as a result of which several roads have been closed due to landslides.
No flight could land or take off from Srinagar airport since yesterday. None of the 27 flights scheduled to arrive in Srinagar yesterday could land at the airport. Officials say due to continuous snowfall there are no chances of resumption of air traffic today as well.
Srinagar Airport Director Akash Deep Mathur said that all flights were suspended for the day. This was the second time in a week when all air operations were suspended due to low visibility at the airport.
Similarly, vehicular traffic was stopped on the strategic Srinagar-Jammu highway just a day after it was allowed to proceed from Srinagar towards Jammu. The road was again closed on Wednesday after snowfall and rains triggered landslides and shooting stones at several places, including at Ramsoo, Panthal, and Anokhi Fall on the treacherous Banihal-Ramban stretch.
Early morning, snow lashed both sides of the three-kilometer long Jawahar Tunnel in the Pir Panjal mountains.
He said the decision regarding allowing vehicular movement on the highway will be taken on Thursday after assessing the weather condition.
Similarly, other highways connecting Kashmir, including Mughal Road, Kishtwar-Anantnag, and Srinagar-Leh highway were all closed for traffic due to snow accumulation.
The disruption of air and surface traffic again spurred airliners and travel agents to fleece travellers by charging exorbitant airfares. A single traveller had to pay between Rs 14,000 and Rs 24,000 for flying on the Srinagar-Delhi route. Similarly, a flyer had to shell out more than Rs 15,000 for half-an-hour's air travel between Srinagar and Jammu. |
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