Jammu and Kashmir: Parts of valley receive fresh snowfall, several flights cancelled

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Srinagar city received second snowfall of the winter on Tuesday as higher reaches of Kashmir have witnessed bountiful snowfall over the past 48 hours.

Srinagar witnessed moderate snowfall in the early part of the day, a weather department official said.

Heavy snowfall has been reported from Gulmarg, Sonamarg, Shopian, Gurez, Machil and other hilly areas of the valley, the person said.

The wet weather has been accompanied by gusty winds which has resulted in damage to several houses in the valley.

Videos of tin roofs being blown away by strong winds have gone viral on social media.

Gulmarg, a skiing resort in Baramulla district, which is scheduled to host 4th Khelo India Winter Games from Wednesday, has received around 2.5 feet of fresh snowfall over the past 48 hours, the official said.

More than four feet of snow has accumulated at Sadhna Top (five feet), Razdan Top (five feet) Tulail-Gurez (four feet) and Sonamarg (4.5 feet).

Srinagar has received 29 mm rainfall over the past 24 hours while Qazigund received 76.8 mm.

Pahalgam (40.1 mm), Kupwara (41.9 mm) and Kokernag (26.0 mm) also received substantial rain over the same period.

The Jammu region has also been lashed by rain, forcing closure of Srinagar-Jammu national highway due to mudslides at several places in Ramban District.

Meanwhile, fresh snowfall forced cancellation of several flights at the Srinagar International Airport.

Director Srinagar International Airport Javed Anjum said that many flights have been cancelled due to bad weather conditions, and the exact number of cancellations cannot be revealed.

He said that several flights of Indigo and other airlines are on stand-by mode, and the operations are likely to be suspended completely in view of heavy snowfall in Srinagar.

As per weather office, snowfall is expected to continue in parts of Kashmir until evening or late night.

Meanwhile, following heavy rains, the only surface link connecting Kashmir valley with the rest of the world - Srinagar Jammu Highway was closed due to landslides and shooting stones between the Nashri and Banihal section.

Traffic authorities said due to inclement weather, heavy rains led to landslides and shooting stones along the National Highway.

They said that the highway was blocked by landslides at Dalwass, Mehar-Cafeteria, Chambalwass, and Gangroo and due to shooting stones at tunnel T2, Jaswal bridge, Maroog and other places between Nashri and Banihal. (With inputs from PTI)