Shimla: Post heavy snow in Shimla on Friday night & Saturday whole day, inhabitants of the city are facing hardships with midnight temperatures falling to as low as minus 6 degree celsius. MeT department has already forecasted more snow on 16th January 2017.
Sharp icicles were spotted hanging from building roofs in most of the areas of Shimla city. It is after many years that such icicles have been spotted, which used be a common spectacle in 80s and early 90s. Tourists are seen enjoying the spectacular sight.
Icicle is a hanging, tapering piece of ice formed by the freezing of dripping water.
“Icicles and heavy snowfall like this time has repeated after a gap of some 25 years. It was in 1990s that Shimla used to get cover with a snow blanket like this one” said Kishori lal Sharma, a retired government servant who has been living in Shimla since 1959.
Sher Mohammad, a employee at Regional Employment Exchange US Club Shimla since 1970, said that though snow in Shimla is a common phenomenon, it is really indelible to see the icicles after a lot of time. He cautioned that tough the icicles looked catchy and beautiful but at the same time are dangerous too, owing to their sharp pointed ends. He said the icicles used to be a common-sight in Shimla once.
The icicles are actually seen to be quite big in size, signalling that the harsh winters have returned.
“Witnessing icicles hanging from the roof of my hotel room is a refreshing sight” said Shikha Sharma, a tourist from Delhi who was here to witness snow in Shimla.
Broken branches of trees spread on the roads are a common sight owing to the fact that the tree branches couldn’t withhold such heavy pressure as that created by 1 to 2 feet of snow they faced.
Despite sunny weather during day time, the temperature ranges from 1 to 5 degree celsius. The midnight temperature as low as minus 6 was recorded in Vikasnagar, a suburb of Shimla city yesternight.
Meteorological Department has predicted more snowfall on 15th and 16th January as Western disturbances are approaching the region.
Sought-after tourist cities of Himachal Pradesh like Shimla, Chail, Kasauli, Kufri, Kullu and Manali may get more snow, as forecasted.
