Winter is the coldest season that falls between the autumn and spring season. The word "Winter "has a Germanic origin that means "time of water", which refers to the "rain and snow" of the season. The winter season in Gilgit Baltistan that brings freezing weather starts in November and lasts until the end of February.
Whenever a Gibian (natives of Gilgit Baltistan) hears the word "Winter", it means the season of tremendous compromises; humans and all kinds of living beings will have to suffer. Life gets frozen! The cold season is the termination period of various living existence. It is the season of downtime for all the living creatures on earth as more living bodies undergo dormancy. Many plants die, leaving their seeds, and some cease their growth until spring.
Many animals undergo a period of long sleep (hibernation) in the winter season, in which they are compelled to slow down their metabolic activity. Numerous insects die because their tiny bodies cannot afford that much potential to produce heat to bear this super cold season. The worst thing is that these animals cannot express their feelings, but that's alright! Because invertebrates do not have a spinal cord, they cannot perceive the pain in their body. But humans have to tolerate this ache, but a plus point is that they can complain to nature in words at least.
Freezing Weather damage, the routine life of the natives
Gilgit Baltistan became the top place for tourism in 2018-19. The people are so welcoming and hospitable. Gilgit Baltistan is cardinal for the country due to its nature. In Gilgit Baltistan, the winter season is the main cause of limiting the resources for humans and animals. This region has the maximum potential to generate electricity (18000MW). Despite the profuse flow of glacier water, there is a shortage of electric power. People are bearing the brunt of 20 hours of daily load shedding in the winter season.
Chill temperature damages the routine life of the natives in the freezing weather and threatens business which in turn destroys the region's economy. It makes harsh conditions for survival in these mountainous regions.
Different methods are adopted to combat the Freezing Weather.
People adopted different methods to combat the freezing weather. The majority of the people pause in their homes. They use locally made wood stoves to overcome the biting temperature, but people look troubled due to the high cost of wood. They don't have LPG access or any other source for heating purposes, so wood stoves become a necessity of life in these harsh conditions.
Most of the people living in Gilgit Baltistan fall in the middle order. A substantial part of their salaries is used to collect warm wearing for the households in the winter season. Time to freeze the resources! Due to the unfriendly weather in the winter season, neither shrub can grow. The natives dry and store vegetables and fruits (apricot) in the summers. Before the advent of the winter season, they store all kinds of dry fruits to have enough food to energies them in the freezing weather of the winter season. For this purpose, they do backbreaking work during summers for survival in winters.
Winters Season takes with itself seasonal diseases.
Water bodies such as streams, lakes, rivers, water canals, and water pipes freeze due to freezing weather. A chunk of snow and falling sleet turn out much of trouble. Firstly, the vehicle's engine gets frozen if it starts, then the roads are blocked due to sliding or vehicles slip over the snow. In this way, one could hardly get to his destination by putting lives at risk.
Despite the adverse temperature of the winter season, people will have to get out of their houses and tolerate it for the routine procedures. In this way, they get cold and suffer from cold diseases, the common flu. Everyone gets suffers from the common flu because of its recurrence. It seems to be a very common disease among people in the winter season.
Other diseases include pneumonia, sore throat, and asthma attacks. People try to spend all the time inside their homes. Therefore, they have to face poor indoor air quality. Besides these sufferings, the natives face other problems, some other problems of the freezing weather. About a year ago, an old lady would get groceries; there were about 8 inches of snow on the road. She got the slip and damaged her left lower limb, there was a crack, and due to her old age, it took one and a half years to recover.
Children and older adults have other problems to face in the winter season.
The populace in Gilgit Baltistan hack with almost every field of life, and students in their respective areas have their struggles in attending school. The high price of wood extends to the schools, making it difficult to heat classrooms that often remain unheated. The students are exposed to cold, which leads to sickness. Many students have to travel long distances in the bone-chilling cold. It is tiring and consumes more energy. As a result, many students dread waking up in the morning and travel long distances during the winter season.
It was the last year-2020; It was chilly cold weather. I was going to take my paper in December. Because of the traffic issues, my brother took me on the bike; I covered myself accordingly; after a ride of 15 minutes, I reached the exam Centre, rushed to the room and settled for the paper. When I started to write, my hands weren't capable of writing even a word; my hand got freeze there wasn't any facility to warm up. I rubbed my hand; suddenly my sight looked around, everyone was busy attempting their papers and time is passing by, by noticing this my mind get into trouble than, I give a proper knead to my hands to 20 minutes. After this, my hand became flexible enough to write but still writing pace was slow.
Final thought
The natives put up even with the very basic rights. People come here to be fond of the snowfall in winters, but when it comes to the practical lives, it is unbearable; cheers to the people of Gb that they are surviving in such cruel conditions.
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