Srinagar Logs 35.5 Deg Cel, MeT Says Sizzling Conditions To Continue Today
Srinagar: Heatwave continued in Kashmir as Srinagar witnessed the hottest June day in two decades on Friday, forcing a change in school timing across the valley, an official said.
Srinagar recorded a maximum temperature of 35.5 degrees Celsius on Friday — 6.3 degrees above the normal, the official said.
The hottest-ever June temperature in Srinagar was recorded on June 25, 2005, when the mercury soared to 36.5 degrees Celsius.
Most parts of Kashmir recorded above normal day temperatures.
Qazigund, the gateway town to Kashmir in Kulgam district, recorded a maximum of 34.5 degrees Celsius, seven degrees above the seasonal average, while the mercury in Kokernag town settled at a maximum of 33.6 degrees, 6.4 degrees above the normal, officials said.
Pahalgam, which serves as one of the base camps for the annual Amarnath Yatra, recorded a high of 30 degrees Celsius — 5.2 degrees above the normal.
Gulmarg tourist resort was the coldest place in the valley at 25.2 degrees Celsius, still 5.2 degrees above the normal.
The Met office has said the heat wave will continue at scattered places in the valley on Saturday.
Meanwhile, authorities in Kashmir changed the timing across schools from Saturday.
Timings now in schools within the municipal limits of Srinagar would be from 8 am to 1 pm, while for those outside, it would be from 8.30 am to 1.30 pm.
The unprecedented heat wave has caused a sharp drop in the water level of the Jhelum River, which is the main water body of the Valley starting from Verinag Spring in Anantnag district.
Since perennial water reservoirs in the mountains, which sustain the Valley during the hot summer months, have already been depleted because of lesser snowfall in winter, water level in mountain streams, springs, rivers, lakes and wells has also alarmingly fallen.
Farmers in the highlands of Ganderbal, Srinagar, Budgam, Bandipora, Kupwara, Baramulla, Shopian, Kulgam and Anantnag districts are already crying over water shortages for their Paddy fields and apple orchards.
Paddy fields in some of the higher areas have started getting adversely hit by less irrigation water.
The Paddy plant needs plenty of water till the ears fill, and it is only during the ripening of the grain and the onset of harvest that farmers can afford to have their fields dry.
Apple fruit trees also need frequent irrigation during the fruit-bearing season for succulent and colourful apples. Apples hit by water shortages are less succulent, not sufficiently colourful and with much shorter shelf lives.
Things had started showing up during April and May when occasional rainfall made good the lesser discharge of water in various feeding rivers, streams, lakes, springs and wells of the Valley.