Srinagar: Major snowfall overnight across Kashmir disrupted air traffic and and closed Jammu-Srinagar and Mughal road for traffic.
Snowfall began early on Sunday morning in most parts of Kashmir and continued throughout the night. South Kashmir received more snowfall than north and central parts of the Valley, the officials said.
Srinagar, the summer capital of the J&K, received snowfall of 13.4cms in the last 24 hours till 0830 hours, a MeT official said.
Qazigund, the gateway town of Valley, recorded the highest snowfall of 52cms while Pahalgam, the famous tourist destination, and Kokernag recording 21cms and 32cms respectively.
The world famous ski resort accumulated 4 cms of fresh snowfall during past 24 hours while Kupwara recorded 3.5cms of snowfall. Central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district received almost the same snow depth as Srinagar even as it’s higher reaches accumulated around 20-24cms of fresh snow.
Most interior lanes are clogged with snow even as the divisional administration pressed men and machinery into service in the early hours to clear snow from the roads. Snow has been cleared from the most important roads even as work is in progress to clear the other roads.
All flights at Srinagar airport have been deferred till 11:30 a.m. due to low visibility. No flight could take off or arrive at the airport yesterday, officials said.
“All flights scheduled today from Srinagar have been delayed or rescheduled due to bad weather,” an official said.
The Jammu-Srinagar highway, Srinagar-Leh Highway and Mughal road, connecting Shopian and Poonch districts also remained closed due to the snowfall.
Meanwhile, Srinagar recorded a low of minus 0.9 °C while mercury settled at minus 6.7°C in Pahalgam, minus 5.0°C in Gulmarg, Qazigund minus 0.3°C, Kupwara minus 0.3 °C while Kokernag recorded a low of minus 1.4°C, the official said.
Kashmir is in the middle Chillai-Kalan, the 40-day winter period which commenced on December 21 and ends on January 31. The period is considered the harshest of the winter when the chances of snowfall are most frequent and maximum.
The cold wave, however, continues even after that in Kashmir with a 20-day-long ‘Chillai-Khurd’ (small cold) and a 10-day-long ‘Chillai-Bachha’ (baby cold). The weatherman has forecast more snowfall in the next 24 hours.
