Day-4 : Continuous snowfall disrupts life across Kashmir

Air traffic suspended, Sgr-Jmu highway remain closed, weatherman predicts light snowfall in higher reaches on Jan 17-18

5 Dariya News

Srinagar 15-Jan-2020

The bad weather conditions continued across Kashmir for the fourth consecutive day has disrupted the normal life in Kashmir with local Meteorological department predicting sunshine from January 19 onwards.According to the wire service—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), light to moderate snowfall was experienced in Kashmir for the fourth straight day, resulted in accumulation of snow, causing slippery conditions of roads here. Locals said that many areas across Kashmir here have witnessed fresh snowfall.Earlier, the heavy snowfall in northern Kashmir districts triggered snow avalanches, leaving 11 persons including five troopers and six civilians dead. Reports said that 12 persons were also rescued following the snow avalanches in Kashmir since Monday morning.Deputy Director Meteorological department (MeT), Dr. Mukhtar Ahmad told KNO that they are predicting an improvement in the prevalent weather conditions from this evening.“The light snowfall would occur in higher reaches on January 17-18,” he said, adding that the upcoming system as per the prediction was not too heavy. “The sunshine would be visible from January 19. The weather would remain cloudy on January 16,” he informed.

Meanwhile, the Srinagar-Jammu highway, the only road connecting Valley with rest of the country continued to remain closed in view of the continuous snowfall across Kashmir.The highway was closed following the fresh snowfall and shooting stones triggered in some areas of Ramban district.The snowfall has caused slippery conditions of the roads due to which the officials concerned have decided to close the vehicular movement for the third straight day, traffic officials informed.Moreover, all the flights to and from Srinagar Airport were cancelled today. The air traffic was resumed only for a day on Tuesday while it remained affected today following fresh snow spell in Kashmir.Officials in Airport Authority of India (AAI) Srinagar Airport told KNO that all the 27 flights to and from Srinagar today have been cancelled, adding that the decision regarding resumption of air traffic will be taken only after the weather conditions and visibility improves.Meanwhile, melting snow has submerged many areas in Srinagar, causing hardships to the people. The residents in Srinagar have been demanding dewatering of their areas.The administration, however, claimed to have pressed its men and machinery to clear the roads as soon as possible. (KNO)