Beijing: Even as India’s cold wave continues, to the far north of the Himalayas usually winter-hardened Beijingers are also choosing to stay indoors. China is battling one of its coldest and snowiest winters in decades.

The prolonged cold snap which has led to the heaviest snows in half a century in some parts of the country comes at a time when tens of millions of migrant workers are heading home to their villages to celebrate the Lunar New Year with their families, a festival which begins on February 7 this year.

The cumulative result is a collapse of transport infrastructure with hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded in railway stations, highways and airports across the country. In the southern city of Guangzhou’s main train station alone, some 1,70,000 passengers were left stranded over the weekend, their trains unable to leave due to a power failure that marooned electric trains further down the line. Several regional airports have just shut down.

According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, which handles disaster relief, 24 persons have been killed country-wide as a result of the heavy snow since January 10.

It said in a statement on its website that nearly 22,000 houses have been destroyed and 104 million hectares of farmland damaged. Burgeoning energy shortages have provoked an emergency response in Beijing, with the central government sending out clear orders for the prioritisation of coal transportation to railway authorities. The export of coal has also been forbidden.

The State Electricity Regulatory Commission said the power shortfall had reached 69.63 million kilowatts, forcing 13 provinces and municipalities to ration electricity supplies. Coal reserves were also down more than 40 per cent year-on-year as of Sunday, at 17.73 million tonnes, a figure that totals just eight days’ supply for the power plants. The Ministry of Civil Affairs estimated direct economic losses to the weather at 15.3 billion yuan ($2.1 billion), according to state television. On Monday, China’s main stock index plummeted by over seven per cent, in part the result of worries about the price tag of the wild weather. The China Meteorological Administration has said the cold weather is likely to continue for the next few days and has issued a “red alert” warning of snow storms in some central and eastern areas, including around the commercial capital of Shanghai.

This year’s freezing temperatures follow one of the warmest winters in recorded history in many parts of China last year. In February 2007, Beijing for example had temperatures as high as 16 C, the highest since meteorological records began to be compiled in 1840.

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