Shopian: Kashmir continues to reel under intense cold with Shopian recording coldest night of season at minus 5 degree Celsius.
The night temperature at Awantipora was also recorded at 4.6 degree Celsius which was second lowest in any part of Kashmir after Shopian.
The intense cold wave in the mid November has resulted in immense problems to the people who are yet to conclude the works in orchards which include apple packing and pruning of fruit trees.
In last winter, Shopian was the lone Kashmir district where night temperature was recorded below minus 15. 6 degree Celsius.
In several areas in the south Kashmir district, water taps were frozen with people staying indoors in mornings.
Villagers said that the cold wave has adversely affected them from storing vegetables in pits or houses., which they would consume during winters. “Vegetables like radish, turnip, carrot which we used to store have frozen due to the freezing cold. Now if we remove them and store them, it will not last for more than a fortnight since frozen vegetables spoil within a week,” said Bashir Ahmad Malik, a vegetable grower.
He said that the recent snowfall and heavy rains on 22 October made soil too wet which further let the minus temperature to freeze the vegetables.
Faizan Arif, an independent weatherman told Kashmir Reader that Shopian was the coldest place in Kashmir district “The cold wave would continue till few more days. A light wet spell scheduled in Kashmir on November 23 may give relief from the biting cold,” he said.
Meanwhile, Srinagar recorded a low of minus 1.5 degrees Celsius — down from minus 1.4 degrees Celsius on Thursday night.
Pahalgam, which serves as the base camp for the annual Amarnath Yatra, recorded a low of minus 4.3 degrees Celsius. Pahalgam was the coldest recorded place in Kashmir.
Gulmarg recorded a minimum temperature of minus 1.0 degrees Celsius.
The mercury in Kupwara in north Kashmir settled at a low of minus 2.7 degrees Celsius.
Qazigund, the gateway town to the valley, recorded minus 1.8 degrees Celsius, while Kokernag, in south Kashmir, registered a low of minus 1.3 degrees Celsius.

Raashid Hassan