Bitter cold in Kashmir with below freezing temperatures

SRINAGAR - The minimum temperature once again fell to minus 3.8 degrees Celsius in summer capital Srinagar Friday as bone chilling cold continued in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir.

The minimum temperature in Srinagar Friday was minus 3.8 degrees Celsius while it was minus 15 and minus 10 in Leh and Kargil towns of Ladakh region respectively.

In south Kashmir’s Pahalgam hill station, the minimum temperature recorded today was minus 5 degrees, L.K. Pandita, assistant director of the local weather office, told IANS here.

The weather office has predicted a further fall in temperatures across the Valley during the next 48 hours till Sunday morning.

The temperatures can fall further during the next two to three days as the weather is expected to remain dry here. Because of clear night skies, the temperatures have been registering a downward trend, the official said.

Locals have already started wearing the loose tweed overgarments called ‘pheran’ under which a fire pot woven in a willow wicker basket, called the ‘kangri’, is carried to ward off the bitter winter cold.

Erratic electric supply in the Valley - ever since the water levels in local rivers fell - has been bothering locals.

We need 1,300 megawatts of electric power daily to cater to the needs of people here, but we are getting only around 780 megawatts.

The huge gap has to be compensated by regular curtailments and shutdowns, said an official of the local electricity department here.

As all power generating projects in Jammu and Kashmir are hydro-based, the authorities have to resort to power import from the country’s northern grid each winter which costs the exchequer high.