AMN
Rain and snowfall lashed many parts of Northern India resulting in the mercury plummeting by several notches. Kashmir remained cut off from the rest of the country for the second day today due to heavy snowfall in many areas over the past four days.
The mercury fell below freezing point at most places with Gulmarg remaining the coldest region in the state. The arterial Srinagar-Jammu National Highway remained closed due to snowfall and landslides. The air traffic to and fro Srinagar International Airport also remained suspended.
Delhiites woke up to rain-soaked morning with the minimum temperature recorded at 13.5 degrees Celsius, six notches above the season’s average.
A northern railways spokesperson said, bad weather delayed 70 trains while 16 had to be rescheduled and seven cancelled. Flight operations at IGI Airport were not affected.
Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh also received widespread rain. Our correspondent reports that this is the first rain of the season. In Himachal Pradesh, tribal areas and higher hills continue to experience moderate snowfall during last night.
Kashmir areas received moderate to heavy snowfall on Friday, leading to cancellation of all flights from the Srinagar ‘International’ Airport and closure of the Srinagar-Jammu highway, the only surface link between the Valley and rest of the world. The snowfall also led to power disruption in scores of areas while traffic jams caused mainly by non-clearance of snow from roads gave a tough time to commuters throughout the day. The local Meteorological Department predicted widespread snowfall and rains in next 24 hours.