FOGGED

Srinagar, Dec 8: Kashmir was engulfed in a dense layer of fog throughout Sunday as visibility dropped considerably forcing cancellation of all flights for the second consecutive day.

The valley is going through a period of dry and cold weather even as Meteorological (MeT) department has predicted isolated rains and snow beginning 11th of this month.

Director MeT, Sonam Lotus said there will be a slight improvement in the foggy conditions on Monday.

“Significant improvement (in visibility) is expected from Tuesday onwards,” he told The Kashmir Monitor.

The valley, he said, will witness light rains on December 11.

“Moderate to heavy snowfall is predicted between the intervening night of 12 and 13 December,” said Lotus.

“Below freezing temperature, calm winds (1 to 2 km per hour), more than 75% humidity, and suspended dust particles in the atmosphere are the reasons for such dense fog,” he added.

Lotus said that similar foggy conditions occurred back in November months of 2015 and 2016.

The thick layer of fog suspended all flight operations as Srinagar airport for the second consecutive day. 

“All flights at Srinagar airport were cancelled on Sunday and no flight operations took place,” an Airport Authority of India (AAI) official said.

The official said 28 flights, including those for the armed forces, were scheduled at the airport for Sunday.

“The airlines took the decision to cancel all flights because of very poor visibility caused by heavy fog in the valley,” the official said.

Flight operations have been severely affected at the airport for the past three days.

On Friday, several flights were cancelled, while no flight operations took place on Saturday.

A thick layer of fog engulfed most parts of the valley on Sunday affecting visibility and causing problems to people especially to motorists.