Cold conditions tighten its grip in Jammu & Kashmir

Cold wave tightened its grip in Jammu and Kashmir after two days of respite as mercury fell by a few notches in the state.     Pahalgam, a hill resort in south Kashmir, was the coldest place in the valley as the minimum temperature dipped to minus 3.4 degrees Celsius against minus 2.3 deg C yesterday, Met office said.     Srinagar, summer capital of the state, recorded a low of 0.2 deg C.     The night temperature also fell in other places with Qazigund and Kokernag in south Kashmir recording a minimum of 1 deg C and minus 0.2 deg C respectively. Kupwara in north Kashmir recorded a low of minus 0.8 deg C.     Jammu, where the mercury had shown an upward trend for the last few days, also fell by a few notches with the city recording a low of 9.7 deg C against 10.2 deg C yesterday.     Banihal and Bhaderwah settled at a minimum of 0.5 deg C and 1.7 deg C respectively.     Katra recorded a low of 9.4 deg C followed by Batote 3.3 deg C.    Frontier region of Leh also reeled under cold conditions with a low of minus 11.4 deg C and Kargil at minus 11 deg C.