Kashmir draws crowds as tourists seek refuge from rising temperatures

While most parts of the country are reeling under heat wave conditions, tourists are enjoying the pleasant weather in Kashmir as the Valley has witnessed rains over the past few days, leading to a drop in the mercury.

The maximum temperature in the Valley, over the last few days, hovered around 20 degrees Celsius and most of the days, the weather has remained cloudy while soem areas witnessed rainfall.

The pleasant weather has brought cheer to the tourists. “I feel very good, the weather here is very pleasant. We are feeling relaxed here. In Punjab, the temperature is 40 degrees, but here it is only 10-15 degrees,” Akansha and Happy Singh from Punjab told PTI. Pooja, a tourist from Gujarat, said they were wearing woollen clothes and enjoying the pleasant weather in the valley.

“In Gujarat, the temperature has gone up to around 45 degrees Celsius. Here, it is below 20 degrees. We are enjoying the greenery and weather here,” she said. The tourists also witnessed snowfall at the famous ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district. “Yesterday, we visited Gulmarg and witnessed rain and snowfall there. We are enjoying the cool weather in Kashmir,” Mukesh, another vacationer from Gujarat, said.

“This is my first trip to the Valley. There is a famous phrase that Kashmir is God’s own land. Now, after seeing Kashmir, I can say that it is indeed true. In Kolkata, it was 38 degrees Celsius, but we went to Pahalgam and Sonmarg where it was 8 degrees Celsius,” Sana Ahmad, from Kolkata, said. Even as the Valley witnessed a sunny day on Saturday, the Meteorological Department has forecast a brief spell of rain and thunderstorm towards the evening at scattered places.

While the MeT Office has forecast dry weather for Sunday, there are chances of intermittent light to moderate rain, thunder or lightning with a possibility of hailstorms and gusty winds at a few places on Monday and Tuesday.