Winter chill freezes Kashmir Valley, Leh

SRINAGAR - Extreme winter chill, highly slippery roads and frozen water taps continued to pose serious problems to people Thursday as the night temperatures remained below the freezing point in Kashmir Valley and also in the Ladakh region.

Srinagar recorded a minimum temperature of minus 4.8 degrees Celsius today,” A.R. Zargar, meteorologist, told IANS here.

Gulmarg ski resort recorded minus 11.6 degrees, Pahalgam minus 11.7, Leh minus 17, Kargil minus 18 while the winter capital (Jammu) had a minimum temperature of 6.7 degrees Celsius today, he said.

The meteorologist also said rain or snow was expected at isolated places across the valley over the next day.

A cloud cover is expected during the night, and is likely to raise the minimum temperature in the next two days here, Zargar said.

Highly slippery road conditions in summer capital Srinagar and other places in the valley presented a major problem to motorists and pedestrians alike.

To avoid any mishap on the strategic Srinagar-Jammu highway, authorities have allowed traffic to move only from Srinagar to Jammu for the second successive day Thursday.

Traffic will move from Srinagar to Jammu today and no vehicle will be allowed to move in the opposite direction, said an official of the traffic department.

Doctors posted at Srinagar city’s Bone and Joints Hospital said they had been receiving many cases of fractured bones in recent days.

People are advised to walk and drive cautiously, especially in the mornings and evenings when walkways and motorable roads are highly slippery here, a doctor said.

Water taps continued to remain frozen at most places in cities and towns acros the Valley and people lit small fires to melt the tap water.

When I lit a fire under the water tap this morning, the entire pipeline burst. Now I have to look for a plumber to set the new pipeline, said Mushtaq Ahmad, 29, who lives in old city area of Srinagar.