“Breaking News” ; 17 flights cancelled as dense fog engulfs the region, reported “poor visibility”

Jammu; 17 flights to and from the Jammu airport were canceled as dense fog eradicated the region on Tuesday, a day after high-altitude regions, including the Vaishno Devi shrine, obtained the season’s first heavy snowfall, officials said. Jammu Airport Director Pravat Ranjan Beuria stated all but one flight planned for the day was canceled due to “poor visibility”.

“Only one flight could land at the Jammu airport around 3 pm, while the rest of the 17 flights scheduled to operate to and from Jammu were canceled,” Beuria told. He said the poor visibility remained the major problem throughout the day. The visibility was around zero at 9 am and remained much below the required level (1,000 to 1,200 meters) during the day, prompting the cancellation of all the flights. Only one flight could land when the visibility improved for a brief period,” the director said. Normal life was affected across the Jammu tables by the dense fog and freezing weather, the officials said.

The fog cleared in most parts by noon, delivering some relief to the people even as the winter sun stayed hidden behind the clouds. The minimum temperature in Jammu dropped by over two notches analogized to the last night to settle at 3.7 degrees Celsius, which is 3.7 degrees below the normal during this part of the season, a spokesperson of the Meteorological Department told.

He said the city registered a maximum of 12.5 degrees Celsius against the prior day’s 13.2 degrees Celsius, which is also 6.5 degrees below the season’s average. The cold wave intensified after the day and night temperatures dropped below the season’s average following average to heavy snowfall in the high-altitude regions in most domains of the Jammu region during the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday.

The Vaishno Devi Shrine in Reasi experienced its first snowfall, while other high-altitude areas, including Patnitop hill station in Udhampur and the upper spaces of Doda, Kishtwar, Rajouri, Poonch, Kathua, Reasi, and Ramban, also detected fresh snowfall. While the Jammu-Srinagar national highway stayed unrestricted for traffic, Mughal Road, which links the twin districts of Rajouri and Poonch in the Jammu region with south Kashmir’s Shopian district, was shut after Peer Ki Gali and adjacent areas noticed heavy snowfall.