Jammu
As entire Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir is in the grip of severe cold even ahead of Chilai Kalan, the 40-day period of harshest winter in the territory, Jammu on Friday witnessed the coldest day in the last 37 years.
Weather expert at University of Agricultural Science and Technology Jammu, Dr Mohinder Singh, told media that the day temperature in Jammu on Friday was the coldest in 37 years. “We have recorded 11.8 degree Celsius as maximum temperature,” he said.
Dr Singh said, the severe cold weather conditions have come a week before in Jammu and it has affected normal life and agricultural activities.
“The night temperature has also declined unexpectedly. The minimum temperature was 1.6 degree Celsius in Jammu and it was coldest in comparison to several years. The night temperature drops in the month of December, but this time it has happened much earlier,” he said.
Meanwhile, all parts of IIOJK continued to reel under freezing night temperature, the meteorological department said. Srinagar recorded a low of minus 6.0 degrees Celsius, Gulmarg minus 10.6 degrees Celsius and Pahalgam minus 9.2 degrees Celsius, MeT officials said.
They said Qazigund – the gateway town to the Valley – recorded the minimum temperature of minus 5.4 degrees Celsius, while Kupwara, in the north, registered a low of minus 6.3 degrees Celsius and Kokernag, in the south, minus 5.4 degrees Celsius.
On the other hand, hundreds of passenger vehicles and trucks remain stranded at Drass and other areas for last ten days due to the closure of Srinagar-Kargil highway owing to snowfall and avalanches. The stranded passengers complained that they are facing immense hardships due to freezing temperatures and non-availability of heating arrangements and food.—KMS
