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Jammu residents shiver in winter chill

    Jammu: Bonfires at regular distances dotted Jammu's landscape, the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir, as residents sought to get some respite from the near freezing temperatures on Thursday. Currently reeling under an intense cold wave, large regions of the state including summer capital Srinagar remained carpeted under a thick blanket of snow. Though it did not snow in Jammu, residents shivered in the winter chill as night-time temperatures dropped to zero degrees Celsius, two degrees below normal. Vehicular traffic was also severely affected as visibility was reduced to barely a few meters due to thick fog. Vehicles moved cautiously and several train schedules were disrupted due to inclement weather.

    Lakshman Prasad, a gardener with the University, said that the intense cold weather conditions was hampering normal life across the region. "It's a very cold today and there is a lot of fog. Therefore we are sitting here in front of the bonfire. Its at least better here, than being in the cold," Prasad said. Thousands of vehicles have been stranded on the Jammu-Srinagar highway after heavy snowfall forced authorities to close the crucial arterial road. Snowfall was registered at several other places across the state. Last year Kashmir valley received its heaviest snowfall in the last 30 years. The valley's summer capital, Srinagar, also witnessed its first snowfall after a long dry spell bringing cheers to the sagging tourism industry, the backbone of the strife-torn region.
-Jan 5, 2006

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