News

Heavy snowfall disrupts normal life in valley, weather to improve from today

Srinagar: Snowfall continued in Kashmir Valley for fourth consecutive day on Wednesday. Flight operations to and from Kashmir remained suspended while Jammu-Srinagar highway remained closed due to mudslide and landslides at several other places en-route the thoroughfare besides snowfall in and around Jawahar Tunnel where close to four feet of snow has been recorded.

Amid heavy snowfall, the 270-kilometre Srinagar-Jammu National Highway remained closed while no flight operations could take place at the Srinagar International Airport.

With incessant snowfall, very few people could be seen out in the markets and a thin movement of traffic was witnessed on the roads.

The slippery road conditions due to the heavy snowfall made it difficult for people to commute.

Officials said snow clearance was underway, especially near hospitals and other important places.

A MeT official said that Srinagar received 34.7cm of snowfall in the last 24 hours till 0830 hours while Qazigund, the gateway town of Kashmir, recorded 33.7cm during the time.

Pahalgam, and Kokernag, also in south Kashmir, recorded 29.0 and 17cm of fresh snowfall, the MeT official said.

Regarding Gulmarg, the official said that the world famous skiing resort accumulated 28cm of fresh snowfall while Kupwara recorded 22cm of snowfall.

Central Kashmir’s Ganderbal and Budgam districts received almost the same snow depth as Srinagar even as higher reaches accumulated more snow.

The heavy snowfall also caused power disruptions and as per official figures revealed during a meeting chaired by advisor to LG Baseer Ahmad Khan through video conference last evening, at least 223 feeders are still to be restored apart from several 33KV and 11KV lines. A few community transformers have also been damaged.

The snowfall has also led to severe disruptions in milk and vegetable supplies to parts of Srinagar and elsewhere.

Free Press Kashmir is now on Telegram. Click here to Join.
FPK Android App for 2G. Click here to Download.

Click to comment
To Top