The icicles formed during the current winter in Jammu and Kashmir became a feast for the eyes for local residents and tourists who after several years got the opportunity to see long sticks of frozen ice dangling from roof tops.
Reports of lengthy icicles having been formed due to the freezing cold have been received from Kashmir, Ladakh and mountainous areas of Jammu. Watching the icicles was perhaps a new phenomenon for the young generation as such a harsh winter is being experienced after many years.
Icicles are formed when water dropping from the snow on rooftops freeze.
These form into long pointed sticks of ice. Icicles get formed overnight when the temperature dips below the freezing point during the harsh winter. The famous ski-tourist destination of Gulmarg in north Kashmir witnessed huge size icicles as the temperature dipped to – 10 degrees Celsius.
Ladakh where the road network is cut off from the rest of the world because of heavy accumulation of snow on the Srinagar-Leh and Manali-Leh roads is the home for icicles as the temperature in certain parts plummets to as low as -26 degrees Celsius. The snow line had decreased during the past few years but this winter witnessed harsh temperature that virtually upset the daily routine of people.
Padam and Drass towns of Ladakh remained the coldest place with the temperature fluctuating between -22 degrees Celsius to -30 degrees Celsius. Padam, which is an inhibited village in Ladakh, recorded -30 degrees Celsius.
Road connectivity with Ladakh remains cut off for almost five months of winter and would be restored only after the thick sheet of snow is cleared by men of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) sometime around May.
The Moughal Road that was constructed at a cost of several hundred crores of rupees to provide an alternate road link between Jammu and the Kashmir valley is lying closed for past many days due to heavy snowfall. Several other roads in the interior areas of the valley were blocked with snow.