by Peerzada Arshad Hamid
SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- As the mercury plummets in Indian-controlled Kashmir, the iconic Dal Lake in the region's summer capital Srinagar has frozen to a solid mass, officials said Friday.
Following the heavy snow earlier this month, the region has been witnessing a steep drop in the mercury.
Thursday night saw the temperature in Srinagar at minus 7.6 degrees centigrade.
"For over a week the region has witnessed dry weather, which has triggered icy winds. Initially, only the edges of the lake froze but now a major portion of the lake has frozen to a solid mass," said Iftikhar Ahmad, a boatman.
On Wednesday night Srinagar recorded a low of minus 8.4 degrees centigrade, the coldest recorded in the city since 1995.
According to the region's meteorological department, in 1995, the mercury had plunged to minus 11.3 degrees centigrade.
Pahalgam, a famous tourist destination south of Srinagar, on Wednesday night recorded minus 11.3 degrees, while as the previous night the mercury fell to minus 8.6 at the hill resort.
Boatmen on the Dal lake said for the past several days they have been unable to move boats in the lake.
Indian tourists who are currently in the city were filming the frozen waters of the lake on their mobile phones and trying to break the ice with much fun.
"What a sight! I am going to remember this throughout my life," said Shilpa Ahuja, a tourist from Delhi. She said she had taken pictures of the icy surface of the lake, and she is going to put the photos in her living room back in Delhi.
"People usually adorn their living rooms with photographs of the Dal Lake taken in summers showing boats rowing over waters but I am going to put these pictures showing frozen waters of the lake in my house," Ahuja said. "It's altogether a different feeling."
Indian-controlled Kashmir is in the grip of the harsh period of winter, locally called Chilla Kalan. During this period from December 21 to January 31, the region, the valley in particular, remains under extreme cold due to below-freezing night temperatures.
Residents usually have a tough time during this period. Drinking water pipes carrying potable water usually freeze.
"The water pipes in my house have frozen and the taps are running dry. I have tried hard to warm them up by using boiling water and even lit a bonfire around the pipes but to no avail," said Ahmar Hussain. "For the past three days, the ice inside them has not melted."
Electricity supply remains erratic as power development department resorts to a curtailment in its schedule. Officials at the region's power development department said the decline of water in water bodies and rivers affects electricity generation, thus they have to resort to the curtailment of power supply.
Local government in the region has urged people to avoid walking over the frozen surfaces of the water bodies including the Dal Lake.
"Walking on frozen Dal Lake could be dangerous. Please avoid it," an official in Srinagar wrote on social media. Enditem