Life is fast limping back to normal in the Kashmir valley, including the summer capital of the state, Srinagar, which recorded heavy snowfall after coldest day of the season.People are out on streets, which wore a deserted look yesterday when majority of roads were covered with snow affecting business activities, attendance in offices and pedestrian and traffic movement.
A Met department spokesman said the weather will improve further during the next 24 hours as the Western Disturbances (WD), originating in the Arabian Sea and entering from Afghanistan and Pakistan are moving away from the region.
Weather has improved as there was no snowfall in the Valley since last evening after about 72hours continuous snowfall.
Srinagar also recorded about one feet of snowfall since Friday evening, when the minimum temperature dropped to minus 7.8 degree Celsius the previous night, freezing the world famous Dal Lake, other water bodies and water taps and pipes, resulting in water shortage.
Against only few yesterday, the streets were flooded with vehicles, both passenger and private, since early this morning after the improvement in the weather which has resulted in melting of snow.
Meanwhile, Air traffic to and from Srinagar resumed today after remaining suspended for two days due to heavy snowfall and poor visibility.
Official sources said that the air traffic was resumed this afternoon following improvement in the visibility, which remained poor till today morning.
They said some airlines operated additional flights to clear the stranded passengers.
Air traffic was suspended on Sunday when the entire Kashmir valley, including Srinagar, experienced heavy snowfall.
Chief Engineer, BEACON, Brigadier T P S Rawat said the snow on the runway was cleared on Sunday and again yesterday.
However, all incoming and outgoing flights for the past two days were cancelled due to poor visibility.
Meanwhile, the Kashmir Valley remained cut off from the rest of the country for the third day Tuesday even as snowfall has stopped here after 60 hours.
The moderate to heavy snowfall that started Saturday snapped the terrestrial and aerial connections with the rest of the country -- the Srinagar-Jammu highway remained closed for the third day Tuesday and no flights were operated from or to the Srinagar International Airport for two days.
The local disaster management cell has issued an avalanche warning for the higher reaches of the valley, including Gurez, Machil, Keran, Tangdhar, Uri, Chowkibal and Karnah. People have been advised not to move out of their homes but remove accumulated snow from their rooftops to prevent any roof collapse.
One constable was killed and 38 policemen injured when a barrack inside the armed police commando training centre caved in under heavy snowfall in Lethpora area of south Kashmir's Pulwama district Monday.
"The western disturbance that was active over the valley for the last three days has weakened now. Precipitation will now decrease although the night temperatures are likely to fall in the coming days," meteorological office director Sonam Lotus said here.
The minimum temperature was minus 1.2 degrees in Srinagar while it was minus 3.8 in Pahalgam, minus 8.7 in Gulmarg and minus 8.6 in Leh town of Ladakh region.
(EKNN)
