A fresh snowfall occurred in the entire Kashmir Valley on Sunday. It was the major snowfall of this winter and was moderate in plain areas and heavy in upper reaches. Subsequently, the impact varied from plain to upper reaches.
The snowfall did affect the normal life to some extent. All the incoming and outgoing flights at the Srinagar airport were cancelled. The Srinagar-Jammu National Highway was also blocked due to a landslide in Ramban district of Jammu.
However, the one way traffic for stranded vehicles was restored after the landslide was cleared in
the late afternoon. Snow clearance and power restoration after the disruption is always a challenge for the authorities whenever a heavy snowfall occurs.
Since the snowfall was moderate in plain areas so the challenges were not that big this time. The concerned departments and the Srinagar municipal corporation pressed their men and machinery into service for snow clearance and dewatering operations. Snow was cleared from the roads.
On large number of link roads the usual traffic movement since morning helped in melting of the snow. So the traffic movement was not disturbed on the roads but was slow in morning. However, the water logging continued to remain a problem in a number of areas.
The power supply in the areas where it got snapped must be restored. Reports from
the areas, where heavy snowfall occurred, indicate that a number of roads are still blocked and power supply has been affected.
There is an immediate need for speedy snow clearance in these areas and restoration of power supply. The roads leading to hospitals must be made traffic movement worthy so that the patients needing emergency treatment don’t suffer.
The power supply needs to be restored in these areas. Particularly the hospitals and the drinking
water schemes must get the electricity supply for normal functioning. Snowfall brings with it some problems. But its benefits are very high.
The prolonged dry spell during December and January caused concern among the people.
The lack of snowfall hit the tourism sector. The intending visitors cancelled their visits. The experts feared drinking water shortage in summer.
The people associated with agriculture and horticulture too were fearing lack
of water to irrigate their fields and orchards in summer.
Now the snowfall has made the people linked to tourism, agriculture and horticulture happy again. Hopefully there are more wet spells in store this month.
But at the same time the administration must remain ready to deal with a heavy snowfall like situation also.