Snowfall cuts off Kashmir from rest of the country

Officials said around one foot of snow had accumulated at the Jawahar tunnel, which connects the Jammu region with the Valley. The Mughal Road, connecting Jammu’s Poonch district with Shopian in the Valley, was also closed for vehicular traffic due to heavy snowfall.

Nearly 2,000 vehicles including load carriers were stranded along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway. Later on Saturday, a state government spokesperson said all District Development Commissioners (DDCs) informed that all essential services had been restored and all the highways and roads of the districts had been cleared.

“The administration has cleared snow and water-logging accumulated overnight from all major roads and lanes and restored power and water supplies to in all affected areas of the city,” the statement said. Air traffic to and fro Srinagar was partially restored after remaining affected for nearly 24 hours due to snowfall, officials said.

While all flights in the morning were cancelled due to poor visibility and the accumulation of snow on the runway, a few flights took off in the afternoon as the weather improved, a senior airport official said. “Out of 24 flights which operate from the airport on daily basis, only three operated today while 21 were cancelled,” the official said, adding that if the weather remains normal on Sunday, flights would operate from the airport.

Much of the Valley suffered power cuts, but officials said electricity was restored to almost the entire Valley by Saturday evening. “We have restored electricity supply almost everywhere. In 95 per cent areas, electricity supply is on,” Power Development Department chief engineer Hashmat Qazi told The Sunday Express.

— With PTI inputs