Quetta turns white with season’s first snowfall

Temperature falls to -2C in provincial capital

QUETTA: Quetta and its surrounding areas received the first snowfall of the season on Thursday with the minimum temperature in the provincial capital recorded at -2C. The mercury also dipped to -9C in the resort town of Ziarat.

Since the start of the snowfall in the morning in the northwestern areas of Balochistan, the valley of Quetta is covered in white as one inch of snow was recorded in the city and two to three inches in its suburbs.

As the residents of Quetta enjoyed the snowfall, citizens in some areas faced difficulties because of the suspension of gas supply.

The low gas pressure is not only causing problems in cooking, but also not allowing citizens to use heaters in the freezing weather.

The Met department has forecast more rain and snow over the next few weeks in Balochistan, including Quetta.

Following rainfall in the provincial capital, residents also put up with power outages.

There was light rain in Chaman town and its surrounding areas in the morning,

The Met department has predicted more snowfall and rain in Quetta and its surrounding areas. In last 24 hours, the temperature was recorded at 4C in Kalat, 4C in Turbat, 3C in Panjgur, 9C in Gwadar, 16C in Jiwani, 7C in Lasbela and 14C in Pasni.

The citizens of Quetta’s Airport Road and Almoon Chowk areas had recently staged a protest against gas shortage.

The drop in temperature across the country has made the gas crisis worse across the country with the total shortfall hitting 600mmcfd, compelling the Sui Southern Gas Company and the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited to limit supply.

The federal and provincial governments have been pointing fingers at each other.

According to JUI-F MNA from Mastung, Syed Mehmood Shah, over 90% of Balochistan was not receiving gas and the pressure was low in other areas, creating difficulties for the people in the extreme cold weather.

Power Minister Omar Ayub has held the PPP and PML-N responsible for the gas crisis, saying that the two parties had done nothing for gas exploration in the country in the past 10 years when they were in power.