Air traffic suspended for third day
Tribune News Service
Srinagar, December 9
Dense fog continued to cloud visibility in Kashmir Valley on Monday leading to the cancellation of flights for the third consecutive day in the region.
No respite from freezing cold
- Kashmir Valley has remained in the grip of severe cold during the past week, as night temperatures across the region have plummeted several degrees below the freezing point
- In Srinagar, the main city of Kashmir Valley, and in other towns and resorts of the region, the minimum temperature over the past week has plummeted to freezing levels
- Srinagar city recorded the overnight low of -2.9°C, while southern gateway town of Qazigund recorded -3°C and north Kashmir’s frontier’s Kupwara town recorded a low of -4.3°C
n The minimum temperature in north Kashmir’s tourist resort of Gulmarg was recorded at -4.2°C, while south Kashmir’s Pahalgam resort recorded the low of -3.7°C
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The air traffic to and from the Valley remained suspended as the region was enveloped by thick fog that had reduced early morning visibility to 200 metres.
A senior official at the Srinagar International Airport — the only civilian airport in Kashmir Valley — said all 28 flights scheduled to arrive in Kashmir Valley were cancelled.
The official said the disruption of air traffic continued for the third consecutive day.
“It began on Saturday, when we had to cancel all flights due to fog. It is now the third consecutive day that all flights have been suspended,” the official said, adding that the visibility during the early morning hours was around 200 metres. The morning time visibility yesterday was less than 100 metres.
Kashmir Valley has remained enveloped in a cloud of dense fog since Saturday morning and its intensity reached a highpoint on Sunday afternoon, when the visibility was reduced to mere few metres.
The suspension of air traffic is not rare in Kashmir Valley and has regularly happened during the past due to inclement weather conditions that include snowstorms and poor visibility.
The foggy condition is expected to continue in the region for at least one more day and its intensity is likely to decline. Kashmir Valley is likely to receive a spell of precipitation from Wednesday, which is expected to clear the fog.
The precipitation is likely to increase on Thursday and Friday with widespread rain and snow and isolated heavy falls over Jammu and Kashmir.
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