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The residents of Kashmir are going back to traditional ways of coping with the intense cold wave conditions as frequent and unscheduled power cuts have rendered modern heating gadgets useless. Kashmir is experiencing Chilla-i-Kalan, a 40-day winter period notorious for being the harshest. Srinagar city witnessed the coldest night in 33 years as the minimum temperature dipped to a bone-chilling -8.
5 degrees C on Saturday. Other places in the valley also experienced extreme sub-zero temperatures, which caused the water supply pipes in many areas to freeze. Over the past couple decades, residents of urban Kashmir have done away with traditional heating arrangements -- including wood-based hamams, bukharis, and wicker-claypot kangris -- as the supply of electricity improved year on year But now, with the region experiencing one of its toughest winters in recent memory, the power fupply in most parts of Kashmir has been erratic at best, rendering the electric heating solutions redundant.
“Over the past few years, we had become used to using electric gadgets to keep ourselves warm. With 12 hour cuts every day, we have now gone back to kangris,” Yasir Ahmad, a resident of the posh Gulbahar colony in Srinagar, said. Ahmad also expressed belief his investment in installing an air conditioner at his home has “gone to waste”.
Abdul Ahad Wani, who lives in the old city’s Rainawari area, said he had recently converted his wood-fuelled hamam to an electricity powered one. “I thought using the wood hamam was cumbersome and an electric hamam would be better as it is available at the push of a switch,” Wani said. “But people in power have a habit of proving us wrong.
” With limited LPG and kerosene supply in the open market, power cuts have fuelled business for wood and charcoal vendors. “All I can say is the demand has been good this winter for wood. People have to keep themselves warm and there is nothing better than wood in these times,” Mohammad Abbas Zargar, a firewood dealer, said.
An official of the Kashmir Power Development Corporation (KPDCL) said that while there had been load-shedding due to the sharp rise in power demand during winter, the claims of 16-hour cuts may be exaggerated. “We are trying out best to follow the load-shedding schedule that has been announced already. However, due to overloading of the circuit, distribution transformers and other allied infrastructure sometimes gets damaged, leading to longer power cuts,” he said.
The official added that although the KDPCL has maintained a transformer bank to keep disruptions to a minimum, the bank also suffers more damage during winter. “Our staff is doing its job. We request people to use electricity judiciously and as per their load agreement,” he added.
Meanwhile, traffic authorities have asked motorists to drive slowly and carefully as roads in many areas are covered by a layer of ice at dawn, rendering them slippery. Published - December 22, 2024 03:43 pm IST Copy link Email Facebook Twitter Telegram LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit power (infrastructure) / Jammu and Kashmir / weather.
