Srinagar: An intense cold wave gripped Srinagar and other parts of the Kashmir Valley yesterday. The weather office forecast predicts fresh snowfall.
Bone-chilling winds lashed the region as night temperatures fell way below freezing point.
It was minus 4.2°C in Srinagar, minus 7.6°C in Qazigund, minus 11.2°C in Pahalgam, minus 14°C in Gulmarg, minus 20°C in Leh and minus 17.6°C in Kargil.
Due to highly slippery roads and a fresh accumulation of frozen ice on roads and pavements, people with injuries were continuously pouring into the city's Bone and Joint Hospital.
"The number of patients is increasing. People are advised to wear proper footwear while walking on frozen roads and pavements," said Mansour Ahmad Halwai, superintendent of Srinagar's only specialist bone hospital.
"People should also be careful about the falling snow from rooftops while walking," he said.
Meanwhile, the weather office has forecast fresh snowfall in the next three days across the valley.
"Fresh snowfall is likely between January 23 and 26. The snowfall is likely to be moderate," said Sonam Lotus, director of the meteorological office. A total of 1,377 tourists and locals stranded because of bad weather were transported by the Indian Air Force (IAF) from Srinagar to Jammu and vice-versa Saturday.
Stranded
"The last IAF sortie operated as late as 11pm Saturday," Amir Ali, in charge of the disaster management cell, said. He said 827 passengers were flown from Srinagar to Jammu in six IAF sorties and 550 from Jammu to Srinagar in four sorties.
All these people got stranded in the two cities after heavy snowfall shut the Srinagar-Jammu highway and bad weather hit flights between the two cities.
While priority was given to stranded tourists in Srinagar, stranded locals were airlifted on priority from Jammu to Srinagar.
More than 2,000 stranded people had registered themselves for the special sorties.
The minimum temperature in Himachal Pradesh rose marginally yesterday as there was no major snow or rain in the past 24 hours, the Met Office said.
Due to cloudy conditions, the minimum temperatures across the state increased by two to three degrees, a weatherman said.
Shimla saw a low of 2.6°C, a rise from Saturday's minus 1.2°C.
