J&K, Ladakh Freezes; Srinagar Shivers At Minus 5.8°C
Srinagar, Dec 20: Chillai-e-Kalan— the 40-day long chilliest part of the winter season has begun. Ahead of it J&K and Ladakh continued to reel under intense cold conditions with Srinagar recording a low of minus 5.8°C on Monday.
A meteorological department official here said that the mercury in the summer capital was two notches up from previous two night’s minus 6.0°C. However, he said, overall it was below minus 4.3°C than the normal for this time of the year.
While as the 40-day long ‘Chillai Kalan starts on December 21, it is followed by a 20-day long ‘Chillai Khurd’ and a 10-day-long ‘Chilla Bachha’.
Meanwhile, the mercury in the world famous resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district settled at minus 5.5°C against minus 7.5°C on the previous night, the official said.
Qazigund, the gateway town of Kashmir, had a low of minus 6.0°C against minus 6.0°C on the previous night, he said.
Pahalgam, the famous resort in south Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 7.4°C against minus 8.7°C on previous night.
Kokernag, also in south Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 5.9°C against minus 6.0°C on previous night, the official said.
Kupwara town in north Kashmir recorded a minimum of minus 5.2°C against minus 6.1°C on the previous night, the official said.
Jammu, the J&K’s winter capital, saw a low of 3.2°C which is minus 5.7°C below normal, he said.
Ladakh’s Leh had a low of minus 13.9°C against last night’s minus 16.0°C while automatic Kargil station recorded minimum of minus 11.5°C. Drass in Kargil, the second coldest place in the world after Siberia, recorded a low of minus 19.0°C, the official said.
“Mostly dry and cold weather is likely to continue till December 22 forenoon in both J&K and Ladakh,” the official said, adding, “There’s a modifications in early forecast of snowfall. Now, there’s no forecast of any major snowfall in both J&K and Ladakh.”
However, he said, light to moderate snowfall is expected at many places of J&K and at scattered places of Ladakh especially along Sonmarg-Drass, Parkachik-Padum axis during evening of December 22 to 25. He said that due to mainly clear sky, night temperature Is most likely to fall further during next three days.
“Thereafter, due to the approaching Western Disturbance, we expect gradual fall in day temperature and slight rise in night temperature from December 21 to 26.”
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Hyderpora ‘encounter’—tag
Activists, Kin Of Those Killed Seek Magisterial Probe Report
Srinagar, Dec 20: Rights activists and relatives of the three men killed in the Hyderpora encounter last month have asked the Jammu and Kashmir administration to make public the report of a magisterial probe into the incident.
“It has been more than a month since the government had ordered a magisterial probe into the fake encounter killings. We have a right to know about the outcome,” brother of Mohammad Altaf Bhat, one of the three slain men, said on Monday.
Bhat, Mudasir Gul and his office boy — Amir Magray — were killed on November 15 in what the police called an encounter with terrorists. The relatives of the slain men term it “cold blooded murder”.
The trio was buried in Handwara area of Kupwara district by police but the bodies of Bhat and Gul were returned to their families three days later following a public outcry.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on November 18 ordered a magisterial probe into the killings.
District Magistrate Ajaz Assad promptly appointed additional district magistrate Khurshid Ahmad Shah as the inquiry officer with the direction to submit a report within 15 days.
Calls and messages to Assad and Shah, seeking their response on the status of the report, went unanswered.
RTI activist Raja Muzaffar sought to know from the government about the fate of the report.
“Itz (sic) now more than a Month. Where is the Magisterial Inquiry Report?” Bhat asked in a tweet.
The activist also posted a screenshot of the tweet of Lieutenant Governor Sinha in which he had ordered the inquiry.
“A magisterial inquiry by officer of ADM rank has been ordered in Hyderpora encounter. Govt will take suitable action as soon as report is submitted in a time-bound manner. JK admin reiterates commitment of protecting lives of innocent civilians & it will ensure there is no injustice,” Sinha had tweeted.
