Srinagar, Jan 21 || Barely 9 days left for the 40-day-long ‘Chillai Kalan’ to end, people in Kashmir are waiting with bated breath for the weatherman’s forecast of moderate to heavy snowfall beginning Thursday afternoon.
Srinagar city and other plain areas of the Valley are yet to receive this season’s first snowfall. The 40-day-long period of harsh winter cold, known as the ‘Chillai Kalan’, which brings heavy snowfall to sustain various water bodies during the hot summer months, will end on January 30.
No major snowfall has occurred in the higher reaches of Jammu and Kashmir so far, and this has added to the worries of agriculturists, horticulturists, and the general public.
The weather has mostly been dry since the beginning of Chillai Kalan on December 21.
Except for some snowfall in the higher reaches, the reports from mountainous areas of J&K are also worrisome. Rivers, streams, springs, etc., are running at their lowest, and some of the floating palaces called the houseboats on the river Jhelum have already been ‘grounded’ because of very low discharge in the river.