Winter Tightens Its Grip on Kashmir: Sub-Zero Temperatures, Power Crunch & Frosty Lives

Winter Tightens Its Grip on Kashmir: Sub-Zero Temperatures, Power Crunch & Frosty Lives

Biting Cold Wave Grips Kashmir in December 2025 | Sub-Zero Temps, Power Crisis & Frosty Daily Life By: Javid Amin | 10 December 2025 Kashmir Under a Winter Hammer As December 2025 advances, the snow-clad mountains and tranquil valleys of Kashmir are witnessing another, more ruthless manifestation of winter: a biting cold wave accompanied by sub-zero temperatures across much of the region. In towns, villages and tourist hotspots alike, thermometers have fallen sharply — bringing frost, snow, and a host of new challenges for residents already reeling from a protracted…

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J&K’s Dry Spell Deepens: 86% Rainfall Deficit Sparks Water, Ecology and Fire Alarms

J&K’s Dry Spell Deepens: 86% Rainfall Deficit Sparks Water, Ecology and Fire Alarms

J&K Records 86% Rain Deficit | Shrinking Rivers, Rising Fire Risk, Water Crisis By: Javid Amin | 10 December 2025 A Region Parched as Rain Refuses to Come Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) is witnessing a distressing environmental and humanitarian signal: an acute rainfall shortfall that has plunged the region into a precarious situation. Between November 1 and December 9, 2025, the Union Territory recorded a mere 6.1 mm of rain, against an expected 43.1 mm, marking a staggering 85.8% deficit. This prolonged dry spell — persisting since around November 5…

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Kashmir’s Water Sources Are Drying Up: Prolonged Dry Spell Pushes Valley Toward Winter Water Crisis

Kashmir’s Water Sources Are Drying Up: Prolonged Dry Spell Pushes Valley Toward Winter Water Crisis

Kashmir Water Crisis and Dry Spell: A Deep Dive Into the Growing Water Shortage in Kashmir By: Javid Amin | 06 December 2025 How a Changing Climate, Delayed Snowfall, and an Unrelenting Dry Spell Are Reshaping Life in the Valley A WINTER LIKE NO OTHER Kashmir has always lived by the rhythm of its seasons. Winter was once predictable: snow-clad meadows, frozen mornings, crisp air, and water sources replenished by the Valley’s famed snowfall. But this year, winter has arrived carrying the tones of an unfolding environmental crisis. Streams that…

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Kashmir Cold Wave 2025: Fresh Snowfall at Zojila, Winter Updates, Chillai-Kalan Outlook & Tourism Impact

Kashmir Cold Wave 2025: Fresh Snowfall at Zojila, Winter Updates, Chillai-Kalan Outlook & Tourism Impact

Fresh Snowfall at Zojila, Overcast Skies Bring Relief as the Valley Enters Deep Winter By: Javid Amin | 01 November 2025 Winter has firmly embraced the Kashmir Valley in 2025, bringing with it a complex blend of biting cold, fresh snowfall, shifting weather patterns, evolving tourism rhythms, and the annual anticipation of Chillai-Kalan, the harshest 40-day winter period. The season is intensifying rapidly — and the first major relief in weeks arrived with fresh snowfall at Zojila Pass and a widespread blanket of overcast skies, offering a temporary break from…

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Delhi, Noida, and Gurugram implement GRAP Stage 2 to combat air pollution

Delhi, Noida, and Gurugram implement GRAP Stage 2 to combat air pollution

Under this, the air quality panel has asked the authorities in the NCR region to increase parking fees to discourage private transport. The air quality in Delhi is likely to dip and enter the “very poor” category on October 23 and 24 due to unfavourable meteorological and climatic conditions, the India Meteorological Department and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology have said, prompting the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to invoke Stage 2 of the Graded Response Action Plan measures. These anti-pollution measures will be implemented in the entire…

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Kashmir Faces Power Shortage as Dry Spell Reduces Hydropower Output

Kashmir Faces Power Shortage as Dry Spell Reduces Hydropower Output

With prolonged dry spell leading to the reduction in water level in most of the water bodies across the Valley, the Kashmir-based power houses are generating less electricity, prompting the government to go ahead with power curtailment, causing immense hardships to the people. Pertinently, August and September—2023 has recorded deficient rainfall while the hot and humid weather conditions continued for weeks together, breaking the decades old record in the month of September. The hot and humid weather conditions resulted in reduction in water level in the famous water bodies including…

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Pahalgam’s tourism carrying capacity exceeded, leading to environmental degradation and social disruption

Pahalgam's tourism carrying capacity exceeded, leading to environmental degradation and social disruption

Pahalgam’s environment and culture under threat from tourism By : Javid Amin Pahalgam, nestled in the picturesque region of Jammu and Kashmir, India, has long been renowned for its breathtaking natural beauty. Its lush mountains, meandering rivers, and verdant forests have made it a favored tourist destination. However, in recent years, Pahalgam has encountered a host of challenges, primarily centered around environmental degradation and the growing issue of overtourism. Foremost among these challenges is environmental degradation, stemming from several interconnected factors. Deforestation, driven by logging and land clearance, poses a…

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Persistent Heatwave in Kashmir: Receding River Levels Impact Apple Quality

Persistent Heatwave in Kashmir: Receding River Levels Impact Apple Quality

Dry weather and above normal temperatures in Kashmir over seven weeks have adversely affected horticulture production, particularly apple, but have proved good for paddy crop, experts said. The weather has also led to a fall in the water level of Jhelum and other water bodies. Kashmir is India’s largest apple grower, producing around 20 lakh metric tonnes of apples every year. They added that if the rain scarcity continues, it will have a negative impact on Saffron and potato production in the region. The Valley is experiencing high temperatures with…

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Kashmir’s summer capital records hottest September day in 53 years

Kashmir's summer capital records hottest September day in 53 years

The previous record was of 33.8-degree C recorded on September 1, 1970 Tuesday’s maximum temperature at 34.2-degree Celsius in Srinagar has broken a 53-year-old record. Sonam Lotus, Director at the local MeT department said that the present severe heatwave in Kashmir has broken the 53-year-old record in Srinagar where the maximum temperature was recorded at 34.2-degree Celsius on Tuesday. “Srinagar recorded a maximum temperature of 34.2-degree C, which is 6-degree above normal. It has broken a 53-year-old record of 33.8-degree C recorded on September 1, 1970. The all-time highest September…

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Urbanization: A major threat to remaining water bodies in Kashmir’s capital

Study shows that 50% of small and big waterbodies have vanished over past century By: Hilal Mir Mughli Sidiq Mir, 88, from the Zaldagar area of old Srinagar, nostalgically recalls the days when her family would board a boat at Brari Nambal, a wetland about a mile from her home, for a ride to the city’s iconic Dal Lake. The boat would row through a network of interconnected waterways before reaching its destination. Remnants of the aquatic route Mughli reminisces about still exist, but the boat rides stopped decades ago.…

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