Dense fog forced cancellation of all flights to and from Srinagar International Airport on Friday, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded as weatherman has predicted cold and dry weather across the state during the next 48 hours.
As many as 17 flights operate between Srinagar-Jammu and Srinagar-Delhi on a daily basis. “All the flights were cancelled today,” Senior Superintendent of Police, Srinagar International Airport, Manzoor Ahmad Dalal told Kashmir Post.
Official sources said that first the passengers were informed that there is delay in flight schedule. However, later they were informed about the cancellation of flights.
A thick layer of fog engulfed Kashmir Friday morning leading to poor visibility. The Meteorological Office has forecast similar weather conditions for tomorrow and no wet spells in coming days. The fog also affected rail and road traffic especially in the morning hours.
Director Meteorological Department, Sonam Lotus, said that fog will likely affect the flight operations on Saturday also. Lotus said that there is lot of smoke in air that subsequently results in poor visibility.
He said dry weather conditions have added to fog. “From last quite some time we did not see any strong Western Disturbance,” he said adding downpour will help in subsiding the fog.
The Met office has forecast cold dry weather across the state during the next 48 hours. They said that minimum night temperature in Srinagar was recorded at minus 2.5 degrees Celsius, a shade better than Thursday’s minus 2.7.
In Jammu city, the minimum temperature was 9.5.
