Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Dec 20: The 40 day long coldest and severe part of the winter in Kashmir, Chillai Kalan begins from tomorrow. This part of the winter witnesses sub-zero temperatures and freezes water bodies and water taps across the region.
People are all set to brace the gruelling months of harsh winter and they have already piled up the winter stockings in order to counter the vagaries of harshest part of the winter season.
Chillai Kalan arrives on the scene on December 21 and leaves on January 29 after completing the spell of 40 days. This is considered to be the most bone-chilling phase of the winter season in the Kashmir valley. People become somewhat perplexed as Chillai Kalan arrives on the scene.
“The advent of Chillai Kalan is synonymous with chill and freezing temperatures. People feel shivery when they get to know that the Chillai Kalan is around. During the last winter season Chillai Kalan was at its best as people were left to shiver in the freezing temperatures with no respite,” said Mohammad Ibrahim, a resident of Barzulla.
There is a general feeling in the Valley that Chillai Kalan is accompanied by heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures. Chillai Kalan creates a phobia among the Valley residents so much so that they heave a sigh of relief once Chillai Kalan leaves the scene.
“There is no doubt that Chillai Kalan is the harshest part of the winter season. But at the same time it comes with so many utilities for the people of Kashmir. The snowfall during this phase gets accumulated in the higher reaches and glaciers. This serves as a bank for the summer season ahead and we can have better facilities for drinking water as well as irrigation,” said Abdul Khaliq, a resident of Qamarwari.
Snowfall during the Chillai Kalan especially on Christmas and New Year eve attracts people to Kashmir. Groups of tourists’ mostly domestic tourists visit tourist spots during the Chillai Kalan and enjoy their stay by playing with snow and enjoying the Gondola ride. Some of the tourists visit the other places of tourist attraction in Kashmir.
Unprecedented freezing temperatures during day and night were witnessed in Kashmir valley during the Chillai Kalan period in the last winter as taps got frozen and people were devoid of clean drinking water. The snowfall on January 14 and 15 paralyzed the normal life in Kashmir valley as all the communication facilities were snapped.
Entire Kashmir valley was plunged into darkness as the transmission line got snapped near Pogal area lying in the vicinity of the Banihal town on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway. Electricity was restored to majority of the areas in the Kashmir valley after one week.
However, this time around it is expected that the Chillai Kalan would enter with a beaming face as Kashmir is expected to have dry weather over the next one week or so. This would mean that Kashmiris may experience chill during the night while as the days would be sunny.
An official of the Meteorological Department said that weather will be mainly dry over the State in the next 24 hours. The MeT office said that maximum and minimum temperatures will be around 12 degrees Celsius and minus two degrees Celsius respectively.
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