White Sunday for Kashmiris

Srinagar, Dec 3 (UNI) People woke up this morning to find the entire Kashmir valley under a carpet of snow.

The summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir besides the plains in the Valley witnessed the season's first snowfall today.

The entire Kashmir valley was in the grip of freezing cold as snow accompanied by rain further brought down the temperature.

People were seen keeping themselves warm with both traditional ''kangris (firepots)'' and modern appliances such as heat convectors and gas heaters. Kashmiris also wear 'pheron (long wollen coat)' for nearly six months to beat the cold.

The prices of 'kangris' and other heat appliances have escalated over the past few days as the night temperature has plummeted to below freezing point. On November 30, the minimum temperature recorded was -2.9 degree Celsius.

Weather office here said the night temperature was recorded at 2.8 degree Celsius yesterday.

Reports of snow were received from almost all the parts of the Kashmir valley. The upper reaches continued to receive heavy but intermittent snowfall since the last week of October.

However, the 300-km Srinagar-Jammu national highway, the lifeline of Kashmir, was open from both sides when reports last came in.

UNI AG SY RAI1300