About 500 kargil passengers stranded, flights cancelled since Jan 12

Kargil, Jan 29 (UNI) About 500 passengers are stranded here for the past two weeks after AN-32 flights were cancelled due to heavy snowfall and slippery runway.

Official sources said 45 passengers, who were issued tickets for maidan AN-32 flight between Kargil to Jammu on January 1, are still stranded.

Once a week, flight could notoperate because of heavy snowfall and slippery runway here, they said.

Similarly, 55 passengers who were to travel from Jammu are also stranded there (Jammu) with okay tickets.

Thrice in a week flight between Kargil and Srinagar also remained suspended since January 12 as the runway remained slippery due to minus 19 degree Celsius temperature during night and maximum minus six degree.

They said it was not possible to allow landing of plane when the runway remained frozen and slippery.

As many as 102 passengers who were issued tickets from Srinagar to Jammu are stranded there and another 120 are in the waiting list, they said.

The authorities have issued tickets to 75 passengers and more than 100 are in the waiting list here, they added.

UNI XC/BAS KK ND1730