Kashmir valley in grip of freezing cold

Gulmarg tourist resort in north Kashmir continued to reel under extreme cold as the minimum temperature stayed below the freezing point at most places in the valley, officials said on Monday.

The resort recorded a low of minus 10 degrees Celsius for the second consecutive night, MET officials said.

They said Pahalgam in south Kashmir Anantnag district, which serves as the base camp for the annual Amarnath yatra, recorded a low of minus 2.6 degrees Celsius.

Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, was the one of the two places to record minimum temperature above freezing point as the minimum settled at 0.2 degrees Celsius on Sunday night, the officials said

They said Qazigund, the gateway town to the valley, recorded a minimum of 0.6 degrees Celsius, while the nearby south Kashmir town of Kokernag recorded a low of minus 1.7 degrees Celsius.

The minimum temperature in Kupwara in north Kashmir settled at a low of minus 0.6 degrees Celsius.

Kashmir valley is currently under the grip of the 40-day harshest winter period known as ‘Chilla-i-Kalan’ which began on December 21.

‘Chilla-i-Kalan’ is a period when a cold wave grips the region and the temperature drops considerably leading to the freezing of water bodies including the famous Dal Lake here as well as the water supply lines in several parts of the valley.

The chances of snowfall are the most frequent and maximum during this period and most areas, especially in the higher reaches, receive heavy to very heavy snowfall.

`The ‘Chilla-i-Kalan’ will end on January 31, but the cold wave continues even after that in Kashmir with a 20-day-long ‘Chillai-Khurd’ (small cold) and a 10-day-long ‘Chillai-Bachha’ (baby cold).

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