Amid the severe cold wave and cold in Kashmir, CM Omar Abdullah cancelled his visit to Jammu

Omar Abdullah, the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, announced on Sunday that he would halt his planned events in Jammu and stay in Srinagar to supervise the operations of the power and other departments due to the severe cold wave conditions that are still in effect and the cold spell that is currently affecting the Kashmir valley.

Abdullah, who was on his way back from Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, promised to be in Srinagar by Friday am in order to assess the situation in Kashmir. He said that because of the extreme cold that has engulfed Kashmir, the people living in the valley were having trouble getting power and water.

“In light of the severe cold spell in the Kashmir valley & the resultant difficulties with water & electricity supply, I have decided to cancel my forthcoming programmes in Jammu & station myself in Srinagar for the next week to personally monitor the functioning of the Power department & other important departments,” Abdullah posted on X while travelling to Srinagar from Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer.

After he canceled his trip to Jammu, he promised to compensate the individuals and organizations whose programs were impacted.

“I apologize that the organizers of my programs in Jammu would experience some difficulties as a result of my cancellation. But given the situation, this is the correct thing to do, and I will compensate the individuals and organizations whose programs have been impacted,” Abdullah said.

CM Abdullah previously said that the 55th meeting of the GST Council did not address the proposed GST raise for the Kashmir Shawl. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council met for the 55th time on Saturday in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. Nirmala Sitharaman, the finance minister, presided over the meeting.

Omar Abdullah told reporters here after the meeting, “Some things were agreed on, some things were deferred,” which is a relief for the J&K craftsmen. We had come prepared to make sure that wouldn’t happen since there had been a lot of rumors that the GST on shawls, especially Pashmina shawls, would be raised.

The J&K chief minister emphasized that the Pashmina Shawl sector would suffer greatly from any increase in the price of the Kashmiri Shawl.

“Thankfully, it wasn’t taken up and we will also ensure that in the future, something like this is not considered because it would be life-threatening to our Pashmina shawl industry…,” said Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

This occurred only hours after Mehbooba Mufti, the leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), asked Chief Minister Abdullah to clarify his stance on the planned GST rise on Kashmiri Shawl.