Cold wave: As temperature dipped in Jammu and Kashmir further due to persistent cold wave conditions, a thin sheet of ice formed on Dal Lake in Srinagar on Sunday (January 7) morning. Boaters were seen on the Shikara boating on the iconic lake and piercing through the ice. People who live in houseboats at Dal Lake had a tough time breaking the layer of ice over the water body to reach its banks. Water in pipes also freezed in several parts of the Kashmir valley.
The Srinagar city recorded the coldest night of this season thus far as the bone-chilling cold wave conditions continued in Kashmir with the Mercury plunging more than five notches below the freezing point, officials said here on Sunday.
Temperature in various places
The Srinagar city recorded a minimum temperature of minus 5.6 degrees Celsius on Saturday night, down from minus 5.4 degrees Celsius the previous night, the officials said.
They said Qazigund recorded a low of minus 5.0 degrees Celsius, while in the ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir it was 4.4 degrees Celsius on Saturday night, a notch down from the previous night.
Pahalgam in south Kashmir's Anantnag district, which serves as one of the base camps for the annual Amarnath Yatra, recorded a minimum temperature of minus 6.5 degrees Celsius, down from the previous night's minus 6.3 degrees Celsius, they said.
The minimum temperature in Kokernag town settled at minus 2.7 degrees Celsius and in Kupwara at minus 5.3 degrees Celsius.
Kashmir's 'Chilla-i-Kalan'
Kashmir is currently under the grip of "Chilla-i-Kalan", a 40-day harsh winter period, when a cold wave sweeps the region and temperatures drop considerably leading to the freezing of water bodies as well as water in pipes.
The chances of snowfall are the highest during this period and most areas, particularly the higher reaches, receive heavy snowfall.
'Chilla-i-Kalan' will end on January 31. However, the cold conditions will continue after that with a 20-day 'Chilla-i-Khurd' (small cold) and a 10-day 'Chilla-i-Bachha' (baby cold).
(With PTI inputs)
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