Heavy snowing cripples Kashmir, Kashmir highway shut, flight cancelled

Srinagar: Massive snowfall across Kashmir Valley threw life out of gear on Thursday. The fresh spell of snowfall disrupted power supply, air traffic and surface transport throughout the day.
The snowfall started during the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday and continued intermittently throughout the day.
Officials said that 5 cm of snow was recorded in Kashmir capital Srinagar while in other parts particularly in North Kashmir it snowed heavily.
A MeT official said 23 centimetre snow has been recorded in Banihal, 31 cm in Kokernag, 24 cm in Pahalgam.
Similar reports of light to heavy snowfall were reported from all the major district headquarters of the valley.
Locals from Srinagar city said that administration put light or no efforts to clear snow on the roads. Commuters faced huge inconvenience due to accumulation of snow on roads. “Not to speak of link roads and interiors, even main roads were not cleared. I think administration was in deep slumber,” said a trader from Lal Chowk.
The snowfall caused damaged to property and at many places uprooted trees, At Chinar Bagh Dalgate a house boat was completely damaged due to massive snowfall during pre-dawn hours. Reports said that the house boat registered under the name of ‘Minar’ collapsed abruptly creating panic among the inmates.
“We somehow managed to rescue family members. We brought the issue into the notice of Kothi Bagh Police Station,” said Abdul Rasheed Raga, the owner of the damaged house boat adding that he is expecting some relief from the government.
People from Anantnag, Budgam and other districts alleged that no machinery was pressed into service to clear the snow from the roads. They said that besides electricity, there is water shortage as well.
Majority of the shopkeepers preferred to stay indoors due to massive snowfall. Traffic movement was also skeletal due to slippery condition of roads.
The air traffic to and fro at Srinagar International Airport also remained suspended for the second day due to continuous snowfall and poor visibility.
The strategic Jammu-Srinagar highway also remained closed for the second consecutive day due to the fresh snowfall in the Bannihal sector and landslides in Ramsoo-Ramban. “We didn’t allow any vehicle to cross Tunnel as the road was blocked and besides it is too slippery,” said a traffic official.
Due to the slippery road conditions transport in most parts of Kashmir remained off the roads and people had to face immense hardships.
An under-construction transmission tower of Bandipora grid station collapsed in Ajas area due to heavy snowfall.
Deputy Commissioner Bandipora later on tweeted that 4 towers under construction by M/S A2Z Infra Gurugram on turnkey basis have been damaged and will be covered under contractor liability. “Agency asked to complete all works in 3 week max. Chief Engg S&O supervising it will conduct enquiry,” he said.
Reports said electric supply was interrupted in many parts of Valley including Srinagar city. Electricity played hide and seek even in Press Enclave Srinagar. In major parts of Kashmir, people didn’t reap the benefits of power. “Probably Kashmir will witness a dark night due to massive snowfall, however, the employees of Power Development Department are on job to restore power supply,” said a PDD official.
Reports said that snow has accumulated on electric poles at many places and these poles have become an imminent threat. Locals from Evergreen Colony Lawaypora Srinagar appealed Power Development Department to take care of damaged wires in the area. A local Javaid Ahmed said that these electric poles are made of trees that they have erected themselves, when PDD failed to provide the same. These poles can prove fatal for the people and need to be replaced,” he added.
An official from the meteorological department said a western disturbance active over Jammu and Kashmir is likely to weaken after 24 hours on Friday.
“As the western disturbance persists, widespread snowfall and rain is expected today though there should be signs of improvement later in the evening,” said an official.