Srinagar
Extreme cold accompanied with chilly winds from snow clad maintains have forced people in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh not to venture out in the morning on Friday.
Locals across the valley are complaining of water pipes bursts, extremely slippery roads and lanes, in addition to an erratic electric supply during the harshest part of this winter.
Water surfaces all around are frozen rock solid and locals and tourists have been venturing out on the frozen surface of the Dal Lake in Srinagar. Authorities have issued warning to people undertaking this misadventure as it is fraught with grave risk to life.
"The layer of frozen water can crack under the weight of anybody who moves around on it. That entails great risk to life", district officials said in Srinagar. The minimum temperature in Srinagar was -8.4°C on Thursday, which is higher than -8.3°C in 1995.
On Friday, Srinagar recorded -7.6, Pahalgam -8.6 and Gulmarg -5.5 as the minimum temperature. Leh town had -12, Kargil -17.6 and Drass -25.3°C.