Over the past week, Kashmir has been in the grip of a severe cold wave. The night temperature in parts of the Valley has progressively plummeted to upwards of minus 8 degree Celsius and each new night beats the previous night’s record. In popular memory, the bone chilling cold and the snowfall in upper reaches has come as a throwback to the storied old winters with their feared Chillai Kalans. People are experiencing severe hardships with water pipes freezing in houses and in many cases bursting.
But the severe nature of the winter has hardly made the government more sensitive towards the needs of the people. The people have more or less been left to fend for themselves. Compared to past winters, nothing has changed for the better on the ground. The power supply has reduced significantly 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. Both metered as well as unmetered areas have already been slapped with a drastic load-shedding schedule. The only parallel state of affairs that comes to mind is the mid- nineties when power during a brief period of the winter was supplied for one hour a day. There is little hope that the power situation will change for the better unless this government gives up the prevailing adhocist approach for a long term policy which exploits and builds on the state’s power resources.
Now that the Valley is heading into a 40-day harsh period of winter, there’s hope that the newly elected government will take steps to improve things going forward. One benefit of a cold,snow-bound winter is that it sees a jump in the arrival of tourists.Gulmarg, a renowned tourist destination, has become the major attraction for visitors from across India and abroad.
Snowfall is thus a boon for tourism. It is important for its novelty for the ninety-nine percent of more than 1.4 Indians, so they look forward to visiting Kashmir in winter, no matter the severity of cold. The snowfall in upper reaches has not only delighted tourists but has also brought a renewed sense of hope for the local players in the industry, who were grappling with a slump in business over the past few months. As Kashmir endures this long, cold winter, the challenges faced by its residents must not be overshadowed by the tourism boom. The government must act decisively, not just in addressing the immediate challenges of this winter but also by implementing long-term policies to improve basic amenities like power and water.
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