Srinagar: An avalanche warning has been issued by the weather department as the higher reaches of Jammu and Kashmir received moderate to heavy snowfall on Wednesday. In the wake of the inclement weather, the areas have become vulnerable to avalanches. The locals residing in the areas have been requested to take precautions and avoid venturing out in the avalanche-prone areas.
On Tuesday, the Meteorological department had issued an ‘orange alert’ in Kashmir as the upper reaches in Jammu and Kashmir witnessed snowfall and rains lashed the areas. The weather department in Srinagar said the prevalent rains and snowfall are expected to intensify in coming days.
As per updates, the wet spell started on Monday night as Srinagar too received a moderate dose of snowfall. Snowfall was also reported from all the upper reaches while as plains received rains.
The orange alert comes a day after the weatherman issued an advisory for rains and snowfall in J&K till January 9 with the weather system likely to cause disruption of surface traffic and trigger snow-avalanches in vulnerable higher reaches.
Srinagar recorded the minimum temperature of 0.3 degrees Celsius, up from the Friday night’s minus 2.4 degrees Celsius, the officials said.
Gulmarg, the famous skiing resort in north Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 6.2 degrees Celsius — almost the same as Friday night’s 6.0 degrees Celsius.
The officials said Pahalgam, which serves as the base camp for the annual Amarnath yatra, recorded a low of minus 1.7 degrees Celsius up from minus 6.1 degrees Celsius on Friday night.
On the other hand, the snowfall and poor visibility across Kashmir forced cancellation of 37 of the 42 scheduled flights from Srinagar International Airport on Wednesday, officials of the Airport Authority of India said. The flight cancellations led to chaotic scenes at the airport as hundreds of passengers were left stranded.
Serpentine queues were seen outside the airline counters as the passengers sought to reschedule their flights out of the valley.
