4,000 vehicles stranded, all flights to Srinagar cancelled

SRINAGAR: Kashmir Valley remained cut off from the rest of the country for the second day on Friday following heavy snowfall that left almost all roads blocked, power and telephone lines snapped and flight services to the city disrupted. All flights scheduled through the day were cancelled due to accumulation of snow on the runway of Srinagar airport. Snowfall hit the Valley for the first time this season on Thursday.
Around 4,000 private vehicles and trucks are stranded along the snow-covered Srinagar-Jammu national highway, reports said.
Though the administration on Friday claimed to have restored power supply in parts of Srinagar city, there was no report of supply of electricity in the Valley.
Hashmat Qazi, chief engineer of power development department (PDD), said electricity supply was restored in several parts of Srinagar city by Friday evening. “Out of 66 power stations, 39 have been restored after repairs,” he said.
Landline telephone services, however, remained disrupted on Friday. J&K chief secretary B V R Subrahmanyam held a meeting with officers in Kashmir on the snow situation through video conference from Jammu.
The chief secretary took stock of availability and stocking of ration, gas, petroleum products, kerosene oil and other essential items in Kashmir division, including snow-hit remote areas.
Kashmir divisional commissioner Baseer Khan, according to official sources, informed the chief secretary that essential services in the Valley were restored on Friday, contrary to ground reports.
Roads and bylanes continued to remain blocked due to fallen trees and accumulated snow. However, roads leading to hospitals and the airport were cleared of the snow on Friday, reports said.
According to medical superintendent of SMHS Hospital Dr Nazir Chowdhary, the hospital conducted normal business and even performed surgeries scheduled for Friday. “Power supply to the hospital was restored only in the evening,” he said.
Meanwhile, weather update for J&K and Ladakh issued by the Met department early on Friday said that snowfall had stopped at most places of Kashmir and hilly areas of Jammu division. From Saturday, barring light rain and snow at isolated pockets, no major rain or snow was expected for the next one week, the update said.
Gulmarg was the coldest place in the newly formed Union Territory on Friday, recording a low of minus 4.6 degrees Celsius. Other weather stations also recorded minimum temperatures hovering around the freezing point, a Met department official said.
The J&K chief secretary has already called for joint control rooms to be made functional throughout the winter season to keep the public informed about adverse weather and issue alerts for potential avalanches, an official spokesman said.
Kashmir had witnessed heavy-to-very heavy snowfall during November 2 and 3 last year as well