Srinagar (J&K): Flight operations at the Srinagar airport were disrupted on Friday with several flights cancelled for the day due to poor visibility amid fresh snowfall in Kashmir Valley, officials said. “The flight operations at the Srinagar airport have been suspended since 10 am due to continuous snowfall and low visibility.
Hence, airlines cancelled all their remaining flights for today due to bad weather--AirAsia, Indigo, SpiceJet, Air India and Vistara--a spokesperson at the airport said in a statement. An offcial said that 25 flights were cancelled for the day. The Kashmir Valley on Friday morning woke up to a fresh snowfall with the Valley covered in a thin blanket of white till the afternoon.
Also read: 2 labourers killed after avalanche hits J-K's Sonamarg
The fresh snowfall cheered tourists and hoteliers at the high altitude tourist destinations Gulmar and Sonmarg, which received moderate snowfall. While the fresh snowfall disrupted the flight operations at the Srinagar airport, the inclement weather also led to suspension of vehicular traffic on the Srinagar-Jammu highway due to landslides at Mehar area of Ramban district.
In a statement, a traffic police advised commuters to avoid travelling on the highway till the road is cleared of the debris. Significantly, the fresh blanket of snowfall in Kashmir comes a day after the local meteorological department forecast an improvement in weather from Thursday evening. On Thursday, two labourers were killed after an avalanche hit Sonamarg in Jammu and Kashmir's Ganderbal district up north, officials said.
The avalanche hit the Sarbal area close to Nilgrath where Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited (MEIL) is executing work on the Zojila Tunnel. An official while confirming the incident, identified the deceased as Sandeep Singh and Bal Krishna, both residents of Kishtwar. Their bodies were retrieved and have been shifted to Primary Health Centre in Sonamarg, they said.
