No respite from freezing cold

*Kargil shivers at -19.6, Gulmarg at -16.5, Pahalgam at -12.2
* People asked not to walk on frozen parts of Dal
*Hundreds of vehicles stranded on highway

There was no respite from freezing cold in Kashmir on Friday with minimum temperature hovering several degrees below freezing point while maximum temperature was above sub-zero for the first time in last five days.

A weather department official said Srinagar continued to remain in the grip of intense cold and night temperature was recorded as - 3.6 degrees Celsius. “The day temperature rose a bit and was above freezing point. The maximum temperature in the day was recorded 0 degree celsius,” he said.

He said Gulmarg skiing resort in north Kashmir was the coldest place in the Valley where mercury settled at - 16.5 degrees celsius last night. “The night temperature dipped in Pahalgam resort in South Kashmir to - 12.2 degrees Celsius,” he said.

He said the minimum temperature in Qazigund town of Islamabad district was - 6.2 degrees.

The official said minimum temperature in Kargil dropped to - 19.6 degrees Celsius last night. “It was the lowest in any part of the state this winter.  Leh town recorded a minimum temperature of - 18.2 degrees Celsius,” he said.

The extreme chill across the Valley has resulted in immense hardships to the residents with water supply lines frozen. People at several places were seen burning wood to unfreeze the taps.

Many parts of the Dal Lake and other water bodies have also been partially frozen.  Scores of people were seen walking on the frozen parts.

Dal lake has frozen completely twice during the 20th century with the last such phenomenon seen in 1985 when people could be seen playing cricket on it. In 1964, it is widely believed that the layer of ice on the lake was thick enough to allow a jeep to be driven over it.

Authorities have asked people not to step on the frozen parts of Dal Lake  as layer of ice formed on the water body due to intense cold was not strong.

"Vice Chairman Lakes and Waterways Development Authority Irfan Yaseen has issued an advisory to the general public not to attempt to walk or skate on frozen water surfaces in the lakes, ponds or rivers, as there is apprehension that the thin ice may break and result in drowning," an official spokesman said.

He said volunteers of Civil Defence along with police personnel visited various areas including Dal Lake, Harwan Sarband, Narbal and river Jehlum to enforce the advisory.

He said in many areas, the volunteers had to forcibly evict children from frozen water bodies.

Meanwhile, hundreds of vehicles were stranded on different parts of Srinagar-Jammu highway after authorities did not let vehicles to move ahead from Khannabal and Qazigund.  

Long queues of stranded vehicles could be seen all along the Khannabal-Qazigund stretch of the highway.

The traffic police had yesterday announced that highway will be open for one-way traffic from Srinagar to Jammu provided they cross Qazigund before 9 am.

People alleged that traffic police did not allow vehicles to move beyond Qazigund well before 9 am.

“I don’t understand what authorities are doing. First they announce that highway is open and then they don’t let us move beyond Khanabal. This is really frustrating. At least they should make a clear stand so that the commuters and transporters don’t suffer,” said a passenger Abdul Karim.

DSP Traffic, Ghulam Ahmad Bhat said the slippery conditions of the road forced them to halt the traffic well before the announced deadline.

“We did not want to put any lives at risk because the condition of the road was very slippery. We did let some vehicles move forward up to 8:30 am. However, afterwards we decided not to let any vehicle move towards highway owing to slippery conditions of road near Shaitan Nala. For the safety of people, traffic was halted at Khannabal and Qazigund,” he said.  

Some of the stranded passengers told Rising Kashmir over phone that due to heavy and unending traffic jam from Udhampur onwards, hundreds of passenger vehicles were stranded at different places.

They alleged that officials did not inform them that highway is close for traffic when they left for Srinagar from Jammu in the morning. “It was only when we crossed Udhampur, we were stopped by traffic policemen,” they said.  

They said around 1000 vehicles were caught in the traffic jam. “Vehicles were allowed to proceed towards Srinagar only in the evening,” they said.

IGP Traffic H K Lohia said only those passengers were not allowed to travel on highway, which could not cross Udhampur before 9 am.

He said in order to avoid unnecessary inconvenience, people should follow the instructions of traffic department and accordingly plan their travel on highway.

Rising Kashmir News

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