Srinagar shivers at minus 6 degrees, banks of the Dal Lake frozen
Srinagar is freezing at sub-zero temperatures and recorded the coldest night of the season at minus 6.1 degrees Celsius yesterday. Water froze in taps, causing a shortage of supply in parts of Srinagar as the temperature plunged in the Jammu and Kashmir capital and other cities.
Other parts of the state are also experiencing severe cold. Pahalgam recorded minus 8.9 Celsius and Gulmarg, minus 9.4 degrees Celsius. In Jammu, the minimum temperature dipped to four degrees Celsius, which is 3 degrees below normal.
In Srinagar, the streets were almost deserted this morning and small
nallahs and springs were also seen frozen. The famous Dal Lake is partially frozen, particularly near the banks. The famous lake was frozen solid last in January 2006. Before that, in 1986 and in 1965, there were reports of vehicles on the lake. Local media reports say tourist Shikaras are facing problems along the lake shores.
The intense cold has also brought a power crisis that is common in these months in Jammu and Kashmir. There have been outages of several hours through the day in parts of the state, especially rural Kashmir.
Water and power crises are a recurrent problem every year during winter in the state.
In Leh and Kargil, the temperature was recorded at minus 16.8 degrees and 18.8 degrees Celsius respectively.
Katra, the base camp for Vaishno Devi pilgrims recorded a low of 5 degrees Celsius.