Heavy snowfall cuts off Valley from rest of country

Kashmir Valley was today cut off from rest of the country following the season's heaviest snowfall at most places including the summer capital Srinagar.

The fresh snowfall - the first heavy fall in Srinagar and most other plain areas this winter – disrupted air and road traffic on the national highway thereby cutting the Valley's connection with the rest of the country.

"There has been no air traffic to and fro Srinagar since the morning," an official at the Srinagar International Airport said.

The 294-km Srinagar-Jammu national highway was closed for the traffic due to fresh snowfall and landslides.

"Heavy snowfall was going on at several places on the arterial highway and there have been landslides at some places forcing the closure of the highway," a Traffic Control Room spokesman said here.

The authorities also postponed the annual board and university exams in view of the inclement weather.

"The class 12 exam scheduled for today has been postponed due to bad weather and the new date will be notified separately," PRO, Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education, Showkat Usman said.

The University has also postponed the exams scheduled for today and tomorrow due to the bad weather.

"The examinations to be held on March 2 and 3 have been postponed in view of heavy snowfall in the Valley," a University official said here.

The snowfall also led to disruption in power supply in many areas of the Valley. However, the MET Department predicted decrease in precipitation from this evening.

"This is the first heavy snowfall in Srinagar and some other plain areas and it will continue for most part of the day. However, the precipitation will decrease from the late afternoon or evening," Director, Meteorological Department, Sonam Lotus, said here.

Lotus said there were reports of heavy snowfall from across the Valley. "We have reports of heavy snowfall across the Valley. There have been heavy rains as well," he said.
The director said the Valley would continue to experience "erratic" weather but there would not be heavy falls from tonight for the coming few days.

Gulmarg ski-resort in north Kashmir's Baramulla district recorded fresh snowfall of 42 cm till 8:30 AM, an official of the MeT department said.

He said the resort registered the minimum temperature of minus 3.2 degrees Celsius.

Pahalgam hill resort in south Kashmir, which serves as the base camp for the annual Amarnath yatra, received 25 cm of fresh snow and the mercury there settled at a low of minus 0.4 degree Celsius, the official said.

He said Srinagar recorded 8 cm of snowfall during the night along with rains but heavy falls continued in the city since the morning.

The city registered the minimum temperature of 0.4 degree Celsius, he added.Qazigund on Srinagar-Jammu National Highway received 19 cm of snow till 8:30 AM and recorded a low of zero degree Celsius, the official said.

He said Kokernag, also in south Kashmir, registered the minimum temperature of minus 0.6 degree Celsius and recorded 18 cm of snow.

The mercury in Kupwara, in north Kashmir, settled at a low of 0.2 degree Celsius, the official said, adding 7 cm of snow was recorded there during the night.The mercury in Leh, the frontier town in Ladakh region, settled at minus 0.9 degree Celsius, the official said.

The nearby Kargil town recorded a low of minus 6.6 degrees Celsius and was the coldest recorded place in Jammu and Kashmir, he said. The official said the town received 6 cm of snowfall.