SRINAGAR – Flight operations at the Srinagar airport remained suspended for the third consecutive day on Monday as all flights to and from the Kashmir Valley were cancelled due to poor visibility caused by heavy fog, officials said.
“All flights at Srinagar airport were cancelled on Monday and no flight operations took place for the third straight day,” an official of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said.
He said the visibility at the airport was very poor due to heavy fog and the conditions were not suitable for flight operations.
“The visibility at the airport has been hovering around 100 to 500 metres only while the required visibility (for flights to function) is 1,000 to 1,200 metres. So, the airline has decided to cancel all 26 flights for the day,” the official said.
Flight operations have been severely affected at the Srinagar airport for the past four days.
On Friday, several flights were cancelled while no flight operations took place on Saturday and Sunday.
A thick layer of fog engulfed most parts of the Valley on Monday affecting visibility and causing problems to people especially to the motorists.
Traffic Unaffected On Highway
Jammu: The one-way traffic resumed on the 270-km Jammu-Srinagar Highway on Monday, after a day-long closure to complete some repair work and smooth passage of government forces convoys, traffic department officials said.
“Only Srinagar-bound traffic was allowed to move on the highway, the only all weather road linking Kashmir with rest of the country, this morning with 1 pm as cut off timing,” the officials said.
They said the decision to restrict the traffic to one-way was taken in view of the weather advisory issued by the Meteorological department, predicting widespread moderate rain or snow from Tuesday night to December 14 forenoon.
The traffic on the highway is usually restricted to one-way during the winter months, plying alternatively from the twin capitals of Srinagar and Jammu, to allow smooth passage of vehicles in view of the ongoing four-laning project.
The highway was closed for civilian traffic on Sunday to allow road maintenance agencies to carry out necessary repair work on the road damaged by recent landslides in Ramban and also to allow smooth passage of security convoys from both sides.
As per the weather advisory, an active Western Disturbance is most likely to affect the Union territories of J&K and Ladakh from Tuesday night to December 14 forenoon.
“Under the influence of this weather system, widespread moderate rain or snow is expected in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions,” the advisory said, adding light rain or snow would commence at a few places of Kashmir on Tuesday night and thereafter increase in intensity and distribution.
“The main activity of this system will be moderate to heavy rain or snow, most likely during December 12 and 13 and gradual decrease thereafter,” it said, adding heavy rain or snow is likely in Pirpanjal range of Jammu division (from Bhaderwah to Banihal), upper reaches of Kashmir (Gulmarg,Sonamarg, Baramulla and Kupwara) and Drass sub-division of Ladakh and may impact the surface and air transportation.
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