Heavy snowfall disrupts life in Kashmir; Flights, train services are suspended, Jammu-Srinagar highway is closed

The Kashmir Valley received the heaviest snowfall of the season on Saturday that disrupted normal life, affecting air, rail and road traffic and disrupting power and water supplies, officials said.

Chief minister Omar Abdullah reviewed the snow removal operations in a video conference meeting with all deputy commissioners.

Moderate snowfall has prevailed across Kashmir since Friday, including the first snowfall of the season in Srinagar city and other barren areas.

In South Kashmir, heavy to very heavy snowfall was recorded in the plains, while the plains of central Kashmir received moderate snowfall. The plains of North Kashmir received light to moderate snowfall, officials said.

The higher reaches of South Kashmir region received more than two meters of snow, they added. Although the snow was welcomed by locals and tourists, it disrupted daily life.

The Jammu-Srinagar National Highway (NH-44) was closed due to snow, according to Transport Department officials. They added that the evacuation operation was hampered due to snowfall in Navyug Tunnel.

Crews and equipment are on the job, and commuters are being warned to avoid travel until the weather improves and the road is cleared, officials said.

Train services on the Banihal-Baramulla section have been suspended due to snow accumulation on the track, railway officials said. Efforts to clear the track are ongoing, they added.

Flights to and from Srinagar have also been affected, with flight operations suspended, according to airport officials.

“Due to bad weather, all flights at Srinagar Airport have been cancelled. No flight operations have been conducted at the airport since morning due to bad weather,” officials said. Passengers are advised to contact their airlines for updates.

Flight operations have been affected since Friday evening.

Authorities began clearing snow from the district headquarters and while most highways and roads leading to hospitals were cleared in the morning itself, internal roads were cleared by noon, officials said.

Abdullah ordered deputy commissioners to personally supervise snow removal operations, stressing the need to obtain photographic evidence of cleared areas to ensure complete removal and prevent roads from freezing as temperatures drop.

The district administrations have been directed to give two-hour information to the CM’s office and the chief secretary’s office.

The Chief Engineer of the Department of Public Health Engineering (PHE) informed the meeting that 90 percent of the water available in the entire village has been restored, while efforts are on to deal with the remaining 10 percent, officials said.

The Divisional Commissioner of Jammu reported that power and water in Jammu districts were not affected, while the chief secretary confirmed the steady progress in restoring power supplies and ensured that district hospitals were functioning properly.

The chief minister emphasized the importance of ensuring the presence of doctors and emergency workers in all district hospitals and less than 100 percent for effective emergency management.

Special instructions were given to the deputy commissioner of Budgam to liaise with the airport authorities to help the needy tourists and provide transportation if required, officials said.

The Partition Commissioner of Kashmir has ensured that adequate stocks of essential items, including food and other public goods, are available in all districts.

Speaking on X, Abdullah said that most of the non-working electricity supplies in the village have returned.

“Of the forty-one 33KV feeders that malfunctioned in Kashmir due to heavy snowfall, thirty-seven have been restored and charged. Similarly, of the 739 malfunctioning 11KV feeders, 639 have been restored and recharged, bringing great relief to the village,” Abdullah . said.

He said most of the remaining goods are expected to return by evening.

Abdullah also visited several areas of Srinagar city and visited his assembly constituency, Ganderbal, to take stock of the situation, officials said.

He paid a surprise visit to the Ganderbal District Hospital and inspected the facilities available to patients during inclement weather and reviewed the availability of essential medicines, staff on duty, and the functioning of the heating system.

Abdullah interviewed hospital staff, as well as patients and their caregivers.

Speaking to journalists in Ganderbal, Abdullah said he wanted to visit his district to ensure that people did not face much hardship due to the snow.

“I wanted to see that the work of removing snow from the roads is speeded up, that hospital and important services are taken care of, and that electricity is restored wherever the lines have been cut,” he said.

Meanwhile, the minimum temperature rose by several notches across the valley, the MeT Department said.

Srinagar recorded a low of minus 1 degree Celsius on Friday night, more than six degrees from the previous night’s low of 7.3 degrees Celsius, it said.

Gulmarg, a town known for skiing activities in North Kashmir, recorded a minimum temperature of minus 5 degrees Celsius, while Pahalgam, the base camp of the annual Amarnath Yatra in South Kashmir, registered a minimum temperature of 2.8 degrees Celsius.

Kashmir is currently under the 40-day ‘Chillai-Kalan’ – considered the harshest winter season – which began on December 21.