Fog shuts Kashmir air traffic for 5th day

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, December 11

Foggy conditions prevailed across Kashmir Valley for the fifth consecutive day on Wednesday and continued to ground the air traffic in the region.

The dense fog, which has continued to cloud the region since Saturday last week, led to the cancellation of all 28 flights scheduled to arrive at and depart from the only civilian airport here.

An official at the Srinagar International Airport said the visibility in the morning was zero. “The flights require at least 1000m of visibility for safe landing and for the last five days, the visibility has remained restricted to few hundred metres,” the official said.

The visibility had partially improved during the day and reached 100m at noon and nearly 500m in the afternoon, the official said.

The suspension of the air traffic is not rare in Kashmir valley and has regularly happened during the past winters due to inclement weather conditions that include snowstorms and poor visibility.

The foggy conditions – which intensified during morning and evening hours when the visibility is reduced to almost zero – are expected to ease in the region from tomorrow when a wet spell is likely to begin.

The spell of rain and snow is expected on Thursday and Friday with widespread rain and snow and isolated heavy falls over Jammu and Kashmir.

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.

The region has received at least four wet spells, including two spells of moderate to heavy snowfall, so far. The large amount of precipitation since early last month has caused an early winter in the region.

The residents are also struggling with frequent power outages which are in addition to the scheduled power cuts that take place multiple times on a daily basis.