Kashmir remains cut-off from rest of country as heavy snowfall continues

Srinagar: The Kashmir valley remained cut-off from the rest of the country for the third consecutive day on Saturday as the Srinagar-Jammu national highway was closed and flight operations here continued to be affected due to fresh snowfall, officials said.

The Srinagar-Jammu national highway was closed for traffic for the third consecutive day on Saturday due to bad weather, a Traffic Department official said.

He said the highway was closed for traffic on Thursday evening after heavy snowfall around the Jawahar Tunnel -- the gateway to the Kashmir Valley.

Efforts were on to clear the highway for traffic, the official added.

The air traffic to the valley remained suspended for the eight consecutive day on Saturday due to bad weather, an Airports Authority of India official said.

The flight operations had to be cancelled for the past seven days due to poor visibility caused by heavy fog and snowfall.

"The morning flights were cancelled today (Saturday) and a decision on flight operations in the afternoon will be taken after assessing the weather conditions," the official said.

He said if the weather improves, the flight operations would likely be resumed.

Meanwhile, snowfall continued in most parts of the valley, including in the areas in the plains, till Saturday morning.

The MeT office has said the weather, including visibility, is likely to improve later in the day.

Srinagar recorded the minimum temperature of minus 0.5 degree Celsius, while Pahalgam minus 0.8 degree Celsius and Gulmarg minus 5 degrees Celsius, a MeT official said.

He said Drass, in Ladakh Union territory, recorded a low of minus 11 degrees Celsius, while Leh registered minus 10.1 degrees Celsius.

Jammu city recorded a low of 9.6 degrees Celsius, he added.