Weather to remain dry till Jan 20: MeT
Bhat Imran
Srinagar, Jan 13: Srinagar on Wednesday witnessed the coldest night after eight years with the temperature falling to around minus 7.8 degrees Celsius.
A Meteorological Department (MeT) said the weather will remain dry till January-20.
“There is a forecast of dry weather till Jan-20,” MeT Deputy Director, Mukhtar Ahmad said.
Mukhtar said that there was a dip in mercury following heavy snowfall across the valley.
“Yesternight was the season’s coldest night,” Mukhtar said.
Majority parts of Dal Lake, particularly in the interior areas, besides other water bodies were frozen this morning.
Shikarawalas were finding it difficult to move through frozen parts of the lake. Tourists staying in house boats and nearby hotels had a pleasant surprise to see frozen parts of the lake.
It was in 1965 when the entire lake was frozen and jeep crossed the frozen surface from one end to another end. However, in late 80s and 90s lake was again frozen and became a major attraction for tourists and locals, who were taking photographs and also playing cricket. Later, walking and playing on the frozen surface of the lake was banned and police personnel were deployed to prevent any accident.
Life was thrown out of gear in the morning when snow and water on roads remained frozen. People find it difficult to walk on the roads due to slippery conditions. Dozens of people were injured after they fell down due to slippery conditions as snow on majority link roads, lanes and by-lanes has not yet been removed. We have not seen such a bad situation in 80s when SMC was not so powerful and there were no snow clearance machines. Still lanes, by-lanes and interior roads were being cleared of snow by engaging labourers, elderly persons said.
Very few vehicles were seen on the roads in the morning, moving in a very low speed due to slippery conditions in the city. However, things changed after sun appeared, much to the delight of people though icy cold winds also continued.
