Snowfall cuts off Kashmir; air, surface traffic disrupted

A fresh spell of snowfall in higher reaches and rains in plain areas on Wednesday partially cut off Kashmir valley from the rest of the country, as both air and surface traffic were affected. Moreover, inclement weather conditions in Jammu prompted authorities to suspend Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Yatra from Katra base camp.
Apart from this, the 2 people were killed and several injured including BSF personnel in separate accidents due to slippery road conditions across the region.

An official told that the air traffic remained affected for the second consecutive day as majority of Kashmir bound flights were cancelled. He added the surface traffic on Jammu- Srinagar highway suspended after shooting stones and landslides at serval places.

“Light snowfall and low visibility today hampered our operations. We had 42 scheduled flights but only five could operate. Other 37 (flights) were cancelled,” an official of the airport authority said.

The air traffic to and from Srinagar airport has been severely affected since Tuesday due to snowfall, leading to cancellation of several flights.

Serpentine queues could be seen outside the airline counters as the passengers sought to reschedule their flights out of the valley.

A large number of tourists had come to Kashmir to celebrate New Year amid snowfall that took place around Christmas in most places in the valley.

He said the resumption of air traffic would depend on the weather conditions.

The inclement weather conditions also prompted authorities to suspend traffic on Jammu-Srinagar National highway. Moreover, two persons lost their lives and several others received injuries due to the slippery road caused due to the incessant rain across J&K.

Meanwhile, the traffic police has issued an advisory and asked people to postpone their travelling trip because of slippery roads and shooting stones.

“Travel for LMV on NH44 has become dangerous due to slipper road conditions and shooting stones. Please restrict movement of vehicles .Do not plan your trip towards Kashmir”, said Traffic Police, adding, “ Kashmir bound vehicles shall be stopped at Nagrota, Jammu till further clearance from Traffic Control Unit, Ramban”.

A 29-year-old man was killed and another injured on Wednesday when a boulder from a hillock hit their car on the 270-km Jammu-Srinagar national highway near Ramban, prompting authorities to suspend the traffic on the strategic road amid inclement weather, officials said.

The highway was lashed by intermittent rains since Tuesday, while a weather advisory issued by the meteorological department has predicted wet weather with spells of moderate to heavy snowfall till weekend.
Separately, at least five BSF personnel were injured when their bus skidded off the road and turned turtle near Chingus on Jammu-Poonch highway, the officials said, adding the condition of one of the injured jawans was stated to be serious .

The private car was hit by a boulder from a hillock near Jaiswal bridge near Ramban town on Jammu-Srinagar national highway, the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with rest of the country, around 12.45 pm, resulting in the death of one person and injuries to another, the officials said.

The deceased was identified as Adil Bashir (29), a resident of Bemina locality of Srinagar, they said, adding the injured was shifted to hospital. In a separate incident, a person identified as Bishan Dass son of Thakur Dass of Katra was admitted in GMC hospital, Jammu after his tractor trolley skidded off the road where he succumbed to his injuries.

The officials said reports of shooting stones and mudslides from the hills overlooking the highway were also reported from various places including Karol, Digdole and Ramsu while snowfall also started in the highway town of Banihal and adjoining areas this afternoon.

Most parts of Kashmir and high altitude areas of Jammu region including Jawahar Tunnel recorded moderate snowfall, while the plains including Jammu city were lashed by intermittent rains since early Tuesday, the officials said.

According to an advisory issued by the meteorological department, moderate to heavy rain or snow is most likely during January 5 to 8.

Deputy Inspector General of Police, Doda-Kishtwar-Ramban range, Sunil Gupta requested commuters to avoid unnecessary travel on the highway due to the inclement weather and lurking threat of landslides and shooting stones.

One person died in an unfortunate incident of a vehicle being hit by a shooting stone. There is a danger of falling boulders as it has been intermittently raining for the last two days and the weather office has issued more rain/snow for several more days, he said.

A traffic department official said the traffic on the highway was suspended as a precautionary measure due to shooting of stones and slippery conditions of the road in Banihal due to snow.

The situation will be reviewed later and a decision whether to allow the traffic on the highway will be taken, depending on the condition of the road, he said.

The officials said five BSF personnel were injured when their bus, part of a convoy, skidded off the road and turned turtle at Chowki Narian in Rajouri district.

Condition of one of the injured was stated to be serious , the officials said, adding the packed 42-seater bus was on way to Jammu as the jawans were leaving the station on leave.

The rest of the jawans escaped with bruises, they said.

Meanwhile, the new track to the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine atop the Trikuta hills in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district was briefly closed on Wednesday following a minor landslide, while helicopter services remained suspended owing to inclement weather, officials said.

The weather also forced the suspension of the yatra in the evening, even as 18,000 pilgrims visited the cave shrine during the day, they said.

The landslide struck the new track at Panchi late in the afternoon amid heavy rains, prompting the authorities to suspend the battery car service, the officials said.

They said the movement of the pilgrims was diverted to the old track but was later resumed after the debris were cleared. However, the battery car service has been suspended till further orders as a precautionary measure, they added.

The officials said the helicopter service remained suspended for the day due to the bad weather.
The weather office said Katra recorded 84.2 mm of rainfall from January 3 (8.30 am) till January 5 (5.30 pm), which was the highest in Jammu region. Jammu city witnessed 48.3 mm of rainfall during the same period.
The officials said despite inclement weather, 18,000 pilgrims visited the cave shrine during the day.

The yatra was stopped from the base camp in Katra at 6 pm but those who were on their way to the cave or had reached the Bhawan were allowed to perform ‘darshan’ and offer prayers, they said.
The officials said the yatra is likely to resume on Thursday morning.

The snowfall has resulted in warmer-than-expected nights in the valley but the weatherman has forecast colder days for next two days.

Srinagar recorded the minimum temperature of 0.8 degree Celsius, up from the previous night’s 0.6 degrees Celsius, the officials said.

Gulmarg, the famous skiing resort in north Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 4 degrees Celsius, up from previous night’s 5 degrees Celsius.

The officials said Pahalgam, which serves as the base camp for the annual Amarnath yatra, recorded a low of minus 0.4 degrees Celsius, up from minus 1.2 degrees Celsius the previous night.

They said Qazigund, the gateway town to the valley, recorded a minimum of 0.8 degrees Celsius, while the nearby south Kashmir town of Kokernag recorded a low of 0.1 degrees Celsius.

The mercury in Kupwara in north Kashmir settled at a low of zero degrees Celsius.
The MET Office has forecast widespread snow/rain spell of moderate to heavy intensity till January 8. Heavy snow is expected at some places during the period as well, it said.

Kashmir valley is currently under the grip of the 40-day harshest winter period known as ‘Chilla-i-Kalan’ which began on December 21.

‘Chilla-i-Kalan’ is a period when a cold wave grips the region and the temperature drops considerably leading to the freezing of water bodies, including the famous Dal Lake here as well as the water supply lines in several parts of the valley.

The chances of snowfall are the most frequent and maximum during this period and most areas, especially in the higher reaches, receive heavy to very heavy snowfall.

The ‘Chillai Kalan’ will end on January 31, but the cold wave continues even after that in Kashmir with a 20-day-long ‘Chillai Khurd’ (small cold) and a 10-day-long ‘ChillaiBachha’ (baby cold).