Heavy snowfall on arterial roads; Kashmir cut off from country

Kashmir Valley was today cut off from the rest of the country as heavy snowfall forced closure of arterial Srinagar-Jammu national highway and led to the cancellation of all flights going in and out of the summer capital.
The snowfall, which began in the wee hours, also disrupted normal life in the Valley with authorities snapping electricity to many parts as a precautionary measure.
Although the fresh snowfall brought much-needed respite from the cold wave to the residents of the Valley and cheer to New Year revellers, the snowfall led to the closure of many roads, including the 300-km Srinagar-Jammu national highway -- the only road linking Kashmir with rest of the country, officials said.

"Over 2 ft of snow had accumulated around Jawahar Tunnel, the gateway to Kashmir Valley, till this afternoon," a spokesman of the traffic department told PTI.
He said the snowfall was continuing, which was hampering the efforts of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) to clear the road of snow.
"Once the weather improves, fresh efforts will be made to make the road traffic-worthy," the spokesman said.

He said many far-flung areas of the Valley also remained cut off from the mainland due to heavy snowfall, ranging between six inches to three feet.
An official at the Srinagar International Airport said the snowfall resulted in cancellation of all flights to and from the state's summer capital.

"We have cleared the runway but the bad weather led to the cancellation of all the flights scheduled for the day," the official said.