Two consecutive sunny days have brought respite from biting cold and foggy weather in Kashmir valley as air traffic resumed and some blocked roads were reopened on Sunday.
The cold spell ended on Friday after overnight rainfall bringing reprieve to hundreds of stranded passengers and tourists in Srinagar. Due to poor visibility, the aircraft could not land in Srinagar for three days causing huge inconvenience to people.
“The first flight landed on Thursday afternoon after three days. On Friday and Saturday, the normal air traffic resumed”, an official at Srinagar International Airport said.
The officials of Meteorological Department said that dry weather conditions would prevail over the Valley for next few days.
The traffic on Srinagar-leh highway also resumed on Sunday. The highway remains blocked for the harsh winter months sue to heavy accumulation of snow in the Zojila mountainous sector. However, the authorities remove temporary blockades on the highway to keep it open until heavy snowfall blocks it mostly in December.
Even as the weather showed improvement, the government announced to close down schools upto VIII standard from December 7 while the high and higher secondary schools would be closed for winter vacations from December 21. The smallest day of the year is also the beginning of Chillai Kalan, the harshest 40-day spell of winter season.