Srinagar, Dec. 12 -- Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed prolonged dry weather conditions mostly for the past 40 days causing the rivers to dry up and prompting dozens of incidents of forest fires, weather and forest experts said. They said that the Union territory, including the Himalayan valley, has been reeling under a prolonged dry spell since the beginning of November with 85% deficit in rain or snowfall across the region. Officials and weather experts said that J&K witnessed just 6 mm of average rainfall against a normal precipitation of 43 mm from November 1 to December 9. Kashmir and Jammu divisions separately received rainfall of 8 mm (deficit of 82.1%) and 6.6 mm (deficit of 82.6%) against their respective normals of 44.7 mm and 38 mm, respectively. Director meteorological centre in Srinagar, J&K, Mukhtar Ahmad, said that the deficit from the beginning of November was 85% while it was around 50% if the data from the beginning of October was included. "Post monsoon season, we often witness a largely dry season. The usual precipitation in this period is largely 40-45mm but if the dry spell continues into the month of January then it would be a problem," said Ahmad. Environmental watchers say that the persistent dryness has now begun to reflect in river flows. "The water level of Jhelum River at Sangam has slipped to -0.59 ft, dropping below the zero-gauge level. This does not yet represent the lowest level ever observed, however, it remains one of the lowest readings recorded for the river in recent years. With no major rain or snowfall forecast for the next seven days, the river's levels could decline even further in the coming days," said independent weather spotter, Faizan Arif. "The extended dry conditions have also significantly increased the risk of forest fires across many vulnerable zones of Jammu and Kashmir. The absence of moisture, coupled with dry vegetation and surface heating, has created favourable conditions for fire outbreaks," he said. Kashmir has been witnessing a string of forest fires across the region with north Kashmir most affected region. In south Kashmir's Anantnag, a forest guard Gull Mohammad Shah, 54, part of a firefighting team in the Hengipora Range, slipped nearly 50 metres down a steep slope while moving away from advancing flames. In Kupwara, there have been continuous forest fires since the second half of November. "We have witnessed some nine- ten incidents of forest fires since November 18. The serious ones were in Rajwara, Magam and Mawra Nowgam. The Nowgam fire was very serious and spread to many parts. We have adopted a multi dimensional approach to control these fires, including the involvement of fire, and emergency services," said divisional forest officer of Langate Kupwara, Aijaz Pajwari. He said that the causes of forest fires were dry weather conditions as well as the involvement of human element.The forest department has lodged an FIR in Nowgam fire. "Forests are susceptible to fires in dry weather conditions. There are also mischievous elements among the people whoset the forests on fire so thatbiomass left behind helps inthe sprouting of morels (which fetch good rates in market)," he said. The dry weather is expected to continue till December 20. "In view of absence of any strong Western Disturbance the weather will prevail in Western Himalayan regions of J&K, Ladakh and Himachal. Temp will witness further fall and there will be no snowfall in plains at least till December 20," said director MeT of Ladakh, Sonam Lotus....