Hundreds of stranded passenger vehicles cleared despite snowfall

Air traffic resumes at Srinagar Airport

State Times News
BANIHAL: Over 500 passenger vehicles were cleared on Saturday despite snowfall which disrupted traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with rest of the country, officials said.
The traffic on the 270-km highway was suspended around 11:00 AM as a precautionary measure due to slippery conditions between Shaitani Nallah and Verinag zig, leaving hundreds of Srinagar-bound vehicles stranded, the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Traffic National Highway, Pardeep Singh Sen, told PTI.
However, over 500 passenger vehicles which were left stranded between Banihal and Ramban were allowed to move towards Srinagar later in the day after authorities pressed men and machines to clear the snow which had accumulated on the ground around Jawahar Tunnel the gateway to Kashmir Valley.
High altitude areas including Jawahar Tunnel experienced fresh snowfall, while plains were lashed by incessant rains during the day owing to a fresh western disturbance.
Almost all the passenger vehicles were cleared, while efforts were on to clear the heavy vehicles carrying essential supplies to the Valley including oil tankers, the officer said.
He said the authorities are monitoring the weather situation and a decision to resume one-way traffic on the highway will be taken after clearance of all stranded vehicles.
No fresh vehicle will be allowed to ply on the highway on Sunday in view of inclement weather conditions, he said, adding that only stranded vehicles will be allowed to move.
Currently, the traffic on the highway has been restricted to one side and plies alternatively between the two capitals cities of Srinagar and Jammu.
Meanwhile, the air traffic to and fro Srinagar Airport was restored this afternoon after it was hit by poor visibility in the morning due to snowfall, officials said.
“The flight operations at Srinagar Airport resumed in the afternoon after disruption in the morning,” an official of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said here.
He said the air traffic was disrupted in the morning because of low visibility due to snowfall.
“After the initial cancellation in the morning, the visibility improved in the afternoon as the weather improved and the flight operations resumed,” the official said.
He said eight flights were cancelled on Saturday out of a total of 28 flights scheduled for the day.
Some of the flights were also delayed, the official added.