Flights cancelled, trains late as fog hits J-K transport
Entire Jammu and Kashmir experienced rain and snowfall, mostly in the higher reaches while severe cold and dense fog have thrown normal life out of gear in the region.
The hills of Kashmir including Gulmarg received fresh snowfall today while Valley was lashed by rains with the minimum temperature settling above freezing point at most of the places in the region. It has been snowing on the hills of Kashmir and parts of Jammu since last night.
Four flights were cancelled and at least half a dozen were delayed due to fog and poor visibility at Jammu airport today. However, with the improvement in the weather condition after 1 pm, the rest of the flights operated normally, Director AAI, SK Garg said.
The helicopter service at Katra Mata Vaishnodevi was suspended in the afternoon due to rain and bad weather, but the pilgrimage continued smoothly.
At least 13 trains arrived late by one to six hours at Jammu station while the timings of two trains were re-scheduled as the train services continued to hit badly due to dense fog in the northern region. The operation of scores of trains in J-K, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi NCR, UP and Rajasthan has been affected for the last few weeks due to continuous fog and poor visibility, a Northern Railways spokesman said.
The spokesman further said that Malwa Express operating between Ambedkar Nagar near Indore (MP) and Katra Mata Vaishnodevi arrived 6 hours late, Begumpura Express six hours late from its scheduled time, Tata Sambalpur -JAT late by 5 hours, Delhi-Jammu Rajdhani Exp by 5 hours, Sealdah Exp by 3 hours 20 minutes, Lohit Express late by 4-20 hrs, Happa Express by 3 hours, Subedarganj-Udh Exp by 3 hours, Archna Express by 3 hours, Jhelum Express by 2-10 hours late, Pooja Express 2-20 hrs and Shalimar Express late by one hour and 30 minutes.
The timings of Begumpura Express and Katra Mata Vaishnodevi -Kanyakumari Exp were rescheduled and the trains left about 2 and 6 hours late, respectively, from their scheduled time today.
With this, huge rush of passengers was witnessed at Jammu station for hours together.
The inter-state bus service and normal vehicular traffic have also been badly hit by fog and bad weather.
Meanwhile, the entire Jammu region has been in the grip of cold wave. The region has been experiencing light rain since morning, while light snowfall has been witnessed at Natha Top/ Patnitop, Pir Panjal and Seoj Dhar mountains, in districts Doda, Ramban, Kishtwar, Reasi, Poonch and Rajouri. Pir Gali on Mughal Road and the upper reaches of Sawjian and Loran in Poonch have also experienced fresh snowfall. (Daily Excelsior)
