Flight operations resume in Kashmir
Jmu-Sgr highway opens for traffic
Srinagar: Air traffic to and from Kashmir resumed on Thursday following improvement in visibility, officials said.
The flight operations at the Srinagar airport were suspended on Wednesday due to bad weather after heavy snowfall in the Valley.
The officials said the operations resumed on Thursday afternoon.
They said the visibility at the airport improved from about 800 metres in the morning to about 1,500 metres in the afternoon, leading to the commencement of the operations.
Earlier in the morning, all flights were delayed while at least two flights were cancelled.
The Kashmir valley received heavy snowfall on Wednesday. It was this season’s heavy snowfall in the plains that threw life out of gear and led to the disruption of flight operations.
All the flights at the Srinagar airport were cancelled on Wednesday due to the very poor visibility.
During the morning air traffic to and fro Kashmir was affected due to low visibility following heavy snowfall across the valley, officials said.
Meanwhile, the Srinagar-Jammu highway was opened for the Light Motor Vehicles (LMVs).
The highway was closed yesterday as a precautionary measure after the fresh snowfall triggered shooting stones and landslides at several places.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Traffic, Shabir Ahmad Malik said that the men and machinery was pressed into the services soon after the weather started improving.
He said that as soon as the road clearance was completed, Light Motor Vehicles were allowed to ply.
The official communique issued by the department said that subject to the fair weather and better road conditions, the LMVs (Passenger)/private Cars shall be allowed from both sides on Jammu-Srinagar highway tomorrow.
“TCU Jammu/Srinagar shall liaise with TCU Ramban before releasing the traffic.”
LMVs/private Cars from Nagrota (Jammu) at 0600 hrs to 1200 hrs, from Jakheni (Udhampur) at 0700 hrs to 1300 hrs & from Navyug Tunnel (Qazigund side) 0600 hrs to 1200 hrs (subject to change depending on the road position then). No vehicle shall be allowed before and after cut off timings,” the statement said.
It said that subject to fair weather and better road conditions, HMVs shall be allowed from NAVYUG Tunnel (Qazigund side) towards Jammu after assessing the traffic situation on NHW.
TCU Srinagar shall liaise with TCU Ramban before releasing the HMVs, the statement said, adding that Mughal Road, Srinagar-Sonamarg-Gumri Road and Kishtwar-Sinthan Road shall remain closed for vehicular movement in view of snow. (with inputs from PTI)