Kashmir Valley in grip of freezing cold

Srinagar, January 10

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, 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 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. PTI