Heavy Snowfall Causes Flights To & From Srinagar Airport To Be Cancelled, National Highway Closed Again

Due to continuous snowfall since Saturday morning, all flights to and from the Srinagar international airport have been cancelled. The Jammu-Srinagar national highway has also been closed again after opening for a few hours on Saturday.

Representative Photo: AFP

Srinagar: Due to continuous snowfall since Saturday morning, all flights to and from the Srinagar international airport have been cancelled. As predicted by the local weather office, it started snowing in the Kashmir valley on Saturday morning. 
Over 3 inches of snow had accumulated on the ground at most places in the plains of the valley till noon while reports said moderate to heavy snowfall was continuing in the higher reaches.

Authorities said all flights to and from Srinagar airport were delayed in the morning and had to be finally cancelled because the runway clearance at the airport can only be started once it stops snowing.

"Flight operations which remained suspended till noon to and from Srinagar international airport have been cancelled for the day," sources said.

The weather office has forecast improvement in overall weather conditions from Sunday onwards.

After opening for a few hours on Saturday, the Jammu-Srinagar national highway has also been closed again due to heavy snowfall, officials said. The highway which was opened for one-way traffic from Jammu to Srinagar on Saturday has been closed due to snowfall near Jawahar Tunnel.

Many vehicles, mostly trucks, with essential supplies which had already left for Kashmir from Jammu are stranded on the highway.

The road has closed even as the Met department has forecast another round of snowfall in Kashmir over the weekend.

The highway was thrown open for one-way traffic with the construction of a Bailey bridge on January 16 after being closed for a week due to the collapse of the bridge at Kela Morh near Ramban, 150 kilometres from Jammu.

The highway is the main road link connecting the Kashmir valley with the rest of the country. It is considered the lifeline of Kashmir as trucks laden with essential supplies for Kashmir pass through the highway.

The Mughal Road which is the second road link connecting Kashmir valley with the Jammu region is also closed due to snow accumulation.