Fog grounds flights in Jammu for second day

Jammu, December 30

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Nine flights to and from the Jammu airport were cancelled on Wednesday as a dense fog cover enveloped the region for the second day, officials said, while the prevailing cold wave condition tightened its grip after the recent snowfall in the high altitude areas.

Jammu airport Director Pravat Ranjan Beuria said so far nine flights had been cancelled due to “poor visibility” caused by the foggy conditions.

This was the second day that the flight operations at the Jammu airport have been hit by poor visibility. As many as 17 flights were cancelled on Tuesday and just one could land. Talking about the visibility on Wednesday, Beuria said, “It was just 600 meters at 1 pm, thus not allowing the start of flight operations…Five more flights have been delayed (apart from the nine already cancelled).” A dense fog returned to Jammu city amid a drop in the night temperature which settled at 2.9 degrees Celsius, 4.5 notches below normal during this part of the season.

However, the sun came out around noon and provided some relief from the bone-chilling cold and improved visibility in some areas.

Bhaderwah in Doda district, which experienced heavy snowfall last week, was the coldest recorded place in the Jammu region with a low of minus 3.8 degrees Celsius, a spokesman of the Met Department said.

He said Batote in Ramban districts along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway also recorded sub-zero night temperature at minus 0.9, while Katra, the base camp for the pilgrims visiting Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine in Reasi district, was reeling under a minimum of 3.8 degrees Celsius. The shrine atop Trikuta hills and adjoining areas also experienced the first snowfall of the season on the weekend. — PTI