Cold wave conditions intensified across Kashmir, Srinagar city, as the mercury slipped further below the freezing point. While one side toursits are enjoying this weather to the core, it is creating trouble for the locals.
Forget Dal Lake & Gulmarg, there is one thing that is grabbing all the limelight in Kashmir. Wondering what? Well, it is a deodar tree that has turned into a huge icicles.
There was a water pipe on this tree and due to low temperature, the water coming out of that pipe turned into ice.
Temperature in Kashmir is below zero, resulting in frozen water bodies and water supply lines in several residential areas. It is after 37 years that such giant area of Dal Lake has been frozen.
The all-time low recorded in the month of December in Srinagar was minus 12.8 degrees Celsius on December 13, 1934.
Kashmir is currently under the grip of ‘Chillai-Kalan’, the harshest period of winter when chances of snowfall are maximum and the temperature drops considerably.
‘Chillai-Kalan’ ends on January 31, but the cold wave continues even after that in Kashmir. The 40-day period is followed by a 20-day ‘Chillai-Khurd’ (small cold) and a 10-day ‘Chillai-Bachha’ (baby cold).
This cold weather has made tourists delighted. New Year revellers from across the country are thronging Kashmir's ski-resort at Gulmarg, known as 'Switzerland of Asia', with the hotels at famous winter destination fully booked, bringing cheer to the tourism players in the valley.
As such, there has been an improvement in tourist arrivals this year, with over 8 lakh people including 50,000 foreigners visiting the valley, notwithstanding the militancy in some parts of Kashmir.