Srinagar: Cricket is the favourite sport for most kids in India. But when it comes to playing on a frozen lake, it becomes a game for a few.
Kids of Kashmir were seen playing cricket on the frozen surface of Dal Lake as temperature in the city went down to minus 5.4 degrees Celsius. The photo also went viral on social media sites.
Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, Thursday night recorded a minimum temperature of minus 5.4 degrees Celsius, down from Wednesday night’s minus 4.8 degrees C.
Parts of many water bodies froze due to biting cold, which also led to freezing of water taps and developing of a thin layer of frost on roads.
Srinagar witnessed the season’s coldest night on December 27, 2014 when the night temperature dropped to minus 5.6 degrees Celsius.
The mercury in Qazigund, the gateway town to Kashmir Valley in south, settled at a low of minus 5.2 degrees Celsius, the official said.
Pahalgam resort in south Kashmir, which serves as a base-camp for the annual Amarnath yatra, registered a minimum temperature of minus 7.6 degrees Celsius, against Wednesday night’s minus 7.2 degrees Celsius, the official added.
Meanwhile, Leh and Kargil towns in Ladakh region recorded the season’s coldest night on Thursday as the cold wave intensified in Jammu and Kashmir.
The minimum temperature in Leh settled at minus 17.1 degrees Celsius, down by over two degrees from the previous night’s low of minus 14.8 degrees Celsius, a MeT department official said. The official also said this was the coldest night of the season so far in the frontier town which was also the coldest recorded place in the state.
Kargil, also in Ladakh region, too recorded the season’s low of minus 16.1 degrees Celsius compared to Wednesday night’s minus 15.8 degrees Celsius, the official said.
(With PTI inputs)