Srinagar: Low visibility triggered by dense fog in Kashmir disrupted entire air traffic at Srinagar Airport on second straight day on Saturday.
All the 27 flights to and from Srinagar were cancelled due to poor visibility, said Director Srinagar Airport Santosh Dhoke.
The flights which were cancelled include 24 commercial and three cargo flights. They are eight Indigo flights, six GoAir, two flights of Vistara, four of Spicejet, five flights of Air India and two Air Asia flights.
According to him the visibility was less than 600 meters due to which flights could not operate at the airport,” Dhoke added.
There was a huge rush at the departure lounge as people were waiting for flights to take off. The Airport witnessed disruption in air traffic for last three days as thick layer of fog resulted in cancellation of 33 flights.
This severely affected hundreds of flyers including patients who were travelling out of the Valley.
A cancer patient Kulsum Jan, who was one among the flyers whose flight got cancelled on Saturday, was frantically looking to find answers if she would reach to her doctor in time.
Their appointment with the doctor, according to her was fixed on December 10 but she was uncertain after her flight was cancelled.
The minimum visibility required for flights to take off and land amid low fog is 1000 metres but since last three days, the visibility has dropped to 600 metres. An Airport official said that the runway at Srinagar Airport is equipped with category 1.
In Srinagar, fog coupled with bone chilling cold prompted people to stay indoors. It also affected vehicular traffic movement on roads as vehicles were plying with headlights on in the morning. As the day progressed, however, there was an improvement in visibility.
The weather department, meanwhile, predicted that the cold wave which has plummeted temperatures in the Valley with continue for few more days.
Night temperatures in Srinagar were recorded at minus 3.6 Celsius while it was minus 5.6 in Gulmarg.
The department has forecasted another bout of snow and rains from December 10.
Meanwhile, Srinagar-Jammu highway, which connects Kashmir with outside world, will be closed for traffic today.
Superintendent of Traffic Police (Rural) Muzaffar Shah said that they highway will be closed for traffic so that maintenance work is carried out.
The strategic road was closed for traffic several times since November 7 snowfall after landslides blocked the highway.

NAZIMA SIDIQ