JOIN USKashmir was cut off from the rest of the Country for the second consecutive day on Thursday as the Srinagar-Jammu national highway remained closed due to heavy snowfall on Wednesday.
However, air traffic was restored on Thursday afternoon from Srinagar International Airport. A senior Traffic department official told Deccan Herald the highway is still closed as the road has not been cleared yet. “We are hopeful that traffic would move from Jammu to Srinagar on Friday as there was no fresh snowfall anywhere on the route today,” he said.
However, the official asked travellers in the region to confirm the highway status before leaving their places. “They must call traffic control rooms for clarifications,” he said.
The highway was closed on Tuesday evening due to heavy snowfall and rains at Patnitop, Jawahar Tunnel and some other parts on the highway.
Air traffic operation was restored on Thursday with several fights taking off and landing as per normal schedule. Reports said in the morning there was a slight visibility problem due to which timings of some flights were rescheduled.
Meanwhile, mercury sank across Kashmir and Ladakh last night, with Srinagar recording a low of 0.1 degree Celsius as against 0.2 degree Celsius the previous night, a Met department official said.
Mercury in south Kashmir tourist resort of Pahalgam settled at minus 10.3 degrees Celsius from previous night’s low of minus 1.0 degree, he said. The famous ski-resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir registered a low of minus 7.6 degrees Celsius as against minus 3.4 degrees Celsius the previous night.
The official said Leh, in cold desert Ladakh, recorded a low of minus 7.1 degrees Celsius compared to minus 5.2 degrees the previous night.