As the chilling winters commence fast, mercury dips below normal in Kashmir valley. Met officials on Wednesday said that mercury may dip further in coming days which  essentially signals the commencement of harsh winters in this Himalayan region.

However,  Director Meteorology Department Sonam Lotus said that the present dry and cold spell will continue for another week and no rain or snowfall is expected till Nov 28. He said the dip in  mercury has resulted due to cold and calm western disturbances. “The temperature will continue  to fall and haziness will prevail during the wee hours,” Lotus added. 

The cold wave has also intensified in Gulmarg skiing resort of north Kashmir and Pahalgam  health resort in south Kashmir. With the mercury dipping fast tourists- both domestic and foreigners -have finally started winding up their tours of this beautiful valley.

However J&K tourism department has started activities for winter and adventure tourism and the records available with various tour and  travel operators in Srinagar suggest that booking of tourists for winter and adventure tourism  from within and abroad have already started.