THE temperature in Kashmir Valley is experiencing a steep drop as we get to the middle of Chillai Kalan, the harshest 40-day period of winter in Kashmir. Currently, the nighttime temperature goes below freezing point. The temperature at high altitude areas goes further down. Although the vision in Srinagar is still limited by the fog, recent days have been clearer and sunnier.
This is true that winter in Kashmir is a big draw for tourists from mainland India, more so in Chillai Kalan, which is generally associated with extreme cold and snowfall, a novelty for the rest of the country. Chilla Kalan has in the process acquired a certain cultural resonance. The period has also become a familiar fixture in the Valley’s tourism calendar. It features in all tourism adverts which promise a picturesque snow-covered valley to prospective tourists.
But while tourists find the winter scenery enchanting, and are excited by the novelty of living in a much colder climate, what about Kashmiris? They have more practical concerns, as Chillai Kalan is a dreary and tedious part of their quotidian lives. They cannot be happy about the extended extreme cold season because, with it, their businesses suffer and the food supply becomes uncertain with the frequent closure of Jammu-Srinagar highway. The most pressing of all the issues is the power shortage, more so, in rural areas. Power breakdowns are also common, which bring mundane, everyday hardships in its train.
Winter in Kashmir may be quaint and idyllic, it also means harsh living conditions And the erratic electricity only aggravates this fact. Compared to past winters, nothing has changed for the better on the ground. In fact, in some aspects, the situation is only worse off. The power supply has reduced to a trickle in parts of the Valley, with long unscheduled power cuts the order of the day – albeit, in some urban areas including the situation on power front has been relatively better.
The debate about power in Valley, however, doesn’t stop with the availability of the electricity through winter. It is a much larger debate about the inability of the successive governments to meet the domestic demand for power out of the region’s own water resources. The issue is simple and it is this: we are a region that exports electricity but purchases power at a hefty cost for its own consumption. This necessitates the government to plan and take action to ensure that we have enough electricity for the winter, if not in the immediate to medium term, then at least in the long term.
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