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| As Chilla-i-Kalan commences, MeT predicts snow, rain | | |  Muhammad Mukaram
Early Times Report
Srinagar, Dec 21 : As the 40- day period of harsh winter known as 'Chilla-i-kalan' started on Sunday, the Meteorological Department has forecast rain and snowfall during the next couple of days across the Jammu and Kashmir and also indicated an improvement in night temperature.
"We are expecting that valley will experience fresh spell of snowfall in the higher reaches and rain will occur at several places in the plains on December 22-23 across the state," a MeT official said.
The minimum temperature rose to minus 1.8 in Srinagar on Sunday against minus 4.4 on Saturday. "The night temperature has improved after more than a week though it continues to remain below the freezing point in the valley and Ladakh region."
In Jammu the night temperature was 4.5 celsius. "The improvement in minimum temperature because of cloud cover at night," he said.
Over past couple of weeks, dry and cold weather conditions continued to tighten the grip across the valley and Ladakh regions as the night temperatures at most places continue to slip below the freezing point.
On Sunday, the mercury in Leh, in Ladakh region, recorded minus 06 degrees Celsius, while Kargil registered a low of minus 9.6 degrees Celsius. The mercury in the tourist resort of Pahalgam has witnessed minus 2.4 degrees Celsius, the spokesperson of MeT said.
Both in rural and urban parts of the Valley, people apart from wearing woolen clothes and traditional Pheran, also carry traditional earthen pots with an encasement of wicker called Kangri in the pherans to keep themselves warm.
In the morning hours, shopkeepers in the urban centers would be seen burning papers and dry leaves to beat the chill. Around the fire, a circle made by a group of shopkeepers and few passerby would be seen at multiple places in the morning hours where they not only warm themselves but also gossip politics and elections.
The continued chill in December and 'Chilla-i-kalan', demand for heating appliances and woolens has gone up. Shopkeepers dealing in woollen clothes, blankets, heating gadgets, etc, said their sales during the month increased considerably. "On an average I sold 5 to 10 gas heaters every day during the month. The dipping temperature only increased the demand," said Firdous Ahmed, a shopkeeper at Lal Chowk.
Kangris, traditional Kashmiri fire pots, also saw rise a great demand. "The prices of Kangris almost doubled during January," said a shopkeeper.
Due to the ongoing dry and cold season, a huge rush of patients could also be witnessed in Valley hospitals as well where patients complain about ailments related to cold. "These days, patients with ailments like fever, cough, cold bronchitis, pneumonia etc have increased by around 25 percent compared to last month," said a senior doctor in Sub-District Hospital Pampore.
He said to keep such ailments away; people should not expose themselves directly to cold conditions. "People should wear warm clothes and should not expose themselves directly to cold. People should also take boiled water and warm food," he added.
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