Most parts of Kashmir Wednesday experienced an unexpected light to heavy snowfall, leading to cancellation of flights and closure of roads in rural areas, even as the meteorological department predicted improvement in weather conditions for two days from Thursday.
The fresh snowfall broke the intense cold wave conditions prevailing in the Valley for the past more than 10 days, a meteorological department official told Greater Kashmir.
Srinagar recorded 5.4mm snow/rain, Pahalgam 8.5mm, Kupwara 10.2mm and Kokernag .1mm, the official said.
“We were not expecting such a moderate snowfall. We were expecting very light snowfall at isolated places because a comparatively intense western disturbance is becoming active over Jammu and Kashmir from January 19 onwards,” Met director Sonam Lotus said.
He said almost all parts of Kashmir received snowfall.
“The hills have received heavy snow, but there will be improvement in weather from tomorrow (Thursday) for two days. From January 19, weather will again turn erratic,” he said, adding that his department will issue a detailed advisory for the coming “heavy spell of snowfall”.
The snowfall Wednesday led to cancellation of 23 flights at the Srinagar “international” airport, senior superintendent of police (airport), Tahir Saleem Khan said.
“Out 27 flights, only four were able to operate in the morning. However, due to bad weather, it was not possible for other flights to operate and they had to be cancelled,” he said.
The Srinagar-Jammu highway is open for traffic, superintendent of traffic police (rural) Muzaffer Ahmad Shah said. “We are monitoring the situation”.
The fresh snowfall also led to closure of roads in rural areas of Kashmir where the snow clearance operations were underway, officials said.
The roads to border towns of Machil, Keran, Karnah and Tangdhar continue to remain closed following heavy snowfall in Kashmir recently.
Dozens of other far-flung and remote villages in northern Kupwara district too remained cut-off from their tehsil and district headquarters after the closure of Sadhna Top, Z-Gali, Phirkiyan and other passes due to moderate to heavy snowfall.
The electricity in rural areas was affected due to fresh snowfall and officials said it can only be restored once the weather improves.
A report said roads leading to Lolab, Kralpora, Ramhall and other areas of Kupwara were closed due to fresh snowfall.
Meanwhile, following fresh snowfall, the divisional administration has directed deputy commissioners to tackle any arising situation and advise people living in avalanche-prone areas to remain cautious.
TEMPERATURES RISE
Meanwhile, the Met official said the minimum temperatures across Kashmir have improved.
He said the minimum temperature in Srinagar rose over three degrees from minus 5.8 degree Celsius the previous night to settle at minus 2.1 degree Celsius on Tuesday night.
Qazigund, the gateway town to the Valley in southern Kashmir recorded a low of minus 2.9 degree Celsius, up by over four degrees from minus 7.2 degree Celsius the previous night.
The nearby Kokernag town registered a low of minus 3.0 degree Celsius Tuesday night, down from minus 7.2 degree Celsius the previous night.
The mercury in Kupwara town in northern Kashmir settled at a low of minus 5.6 degree Celsius as against Monday night’s minus 7.7 degree Celsius.
The ski-resort of Gulmarg in northern Baramulla district recorded a low of minus 6.0 degree Celsius Tuesday night, an increase by four degrees from the Monday night’s low there.
The tourist resort of Pahalgam in southern Anantnag district recorded a low of minus 4.2 degree Celsius, an increase of over eight degrees from the previous night’s minus 12.3 degree Celsius.
LIFE DISRUPTED IN KUPWARA
A sudden spell of snow Wednesday disrupted normal life across northern Kupwara district.
A witness said the vehicular movement largely remained thin in the morning due to slippery condition of roads.
Several vehicles remained stranded near Sulkoot where the police were seen clearing the traffic, the witness said.
Chairman of local transporters’ association, Kupwara, said the movement of vehicles was halted after unexpectedly heavy snowfall in the district, and “to avoid any kind of accidents, we did not allow vehicles to ply on roads in far-flung areas”.
Deputy commissionerKupwara Khalid Jehangir said: “We have kept the police on toes to help locals at every place. In the afternoon, due to slippery roads, the vehicles were not able to move towards Lolab, but a police party was rushed to the spot and it helped them to proceed towards their destinations”.
TRAFFIC JAMS IN SOUTHERN, NORTHERN, CENTRAL AREAS
Plains in southern Kashmir areas received light snowfall Wednesday while the hilly areas received heavy snowfall, causing traffic chaos till late Wednesday evening.
Almost two-inch snow was recorded in Tral, Awantipora, Pampore and Pulwama areas, disrupting movement of the traffic at several places.
Dozens of private and passenger vehicles remained stranded for hours on many roads, groups of witnesses said.
Meanwhile, residents of various areas of Tral complained that electricity was snapped to their households.
Fresh snowfall in northern Baramulla district affected traffic movement in several areas, especially near Boniyar, on Wednesday. Hundreds of vehicles were stranded at Nowshehra-Boniyar area on the Srinagar-Uri highway due to the slippery condition of the road, a witness said.
The stranded passengers slammed the Beacon authorities as well as the district administration, saying the condition of Baramulla-Uri highway has deteriorated since the first snowfall hit northern Kashmir.
“This highway is extremely slippery, causing traffic snarls quite often,” said GhulamRasool, a stranded driver.
Fresh snowfall caused massive traffic jams on the Srinagar-Ganderbal road and also blocked the traffic movement on Kangan-Gagangeer road on Wednesday.
Many vehicles were stranded on Tangalbaal patch of the Srinagar-Ganderbal road, a witness said.
Though the depth of snow wasn’t more than three-inch, the roads turned slippery and led to traffic chaos in several areas. In Kangan area, snowfall started in the wee hours and continued without any break till late Wednesday evening. The Kangan market wore a deserted look in broad daylight due to extremely thin movement of shoppers and vehicles. In absence of transport, many people were seen walking on foot on the Kangan-Gund road to reach their destinations.
The upper belts of Kangan including Wangat and Gund areas witnessed around one-foot fresh snow, disrupting drinking water and electricity supplies in several areas, local residents said.
Sub-divisional magistrate KanganMehraj-ud-Din Shah told Greater Kashmir that they have already issued an advisory to people in view of the snowfall and slippery road conditions and advised them to travel in 4×4 vehicles or those having anti-skid chains tied to tyres.
AVALANCHE WARNING ISSUED
Divisional commissioner Kashmir Baseer Ahmad Khan Wednesday issued fresh avalanche warning for nine avalanche-prone districts of the division, including Anantnag, Kulgam, Budgam, Baramulla, Kupwara, Bandipora, Ganderbal, Kargil and Leh.
“The divisional commissioner Kashmir has directed the deputy commissioners of all these districts to advise the people living in avalanche prone areas not to venture out to avoid any untoward incident. He also directed the concerned DCs to take all precautionary measures and keep the SDRF, police and para-medical staff with ambulances in readiness to avert any untoward incident,” an official spokesman said in a statement.
SCHOOL PARTIALLY DAMAGED
A government school building suffered partial damage after its roof collapsed following fresh snowfall in Kangan area of Ganderbal district on Wednesday evening, officials said.
Following accumulation of snow, the roof of single-storey government middle school TangdajiHayan-Palpora collapsed, causing damage to its walls and windows, they said.
The furniture and other goods kept in the school rooms were shifted by locals, the officials said.
An official at SDM office Kangan said the building has been declared unsafe. “The school building of GMS Tangdaji was in a dilapidated condition for the past three years and has now been declared unsafe after its roof was damaged due to fresh snowfall.”
(With Muzamil Shah in Kupwara/Irfan Amin Malik in Tral/Altaf Baba in Baramulla/Sheikh Nazir and Irfan Raina in Ganderbal)