Winter Sparks Tourism Hope

Date

11/18/2024 3:17:08 PM

(MENAFN- Kashmir Observer)
Representational Photo

After a drawn dry season, snowfall in Kashmir Valley's upper reaches and the scenic spots in recent days has come as a boon for tourism in Kashmir. Gulmarg, a famous hilly resort, was blanketed by snow. The resort is drawing both locals and tourists, who are arriving in the Valley from the different parts of the country to witness snow. Ditto for Pahalgam and Sonamarg, the Valley's other well-known tourism hubs, which also received snowfall. Tourism scene is already booming in the Valley. Over 2.6 million tourists, including 35,254 foreign visitors, visited the Valley from January 1 to September 30. The government expects this trend to continue in the coming months.

While the winter and the attendant snowfall create many hardships for people in the Valley, on the tourism front, things start looking up. In Gulmarg and Pahalgam, the snow draws tourists in droves. Snowfall is thus a boon for tourism. It is important for its novelty for the ninety-nine percent of more than 1.4 Indians, so they look forward to visiting Kashmir in winter. The recent snowfall has not only delighted tourists but has also brought a renewed sense of hope for the local players in the industry, who apprehended a slump in business in the absence of snowfall. Last year, a drawn dry weather during the early part of the winter led to a decline in tourist footfall.

The arrival of snow in the Kashmir Valley is not just a meteorological event; it has a cultural value too and adds a touch of magic to the winter season.
However, the plains have yet to receive snow and there is a hope that unlike last year this happens earlier. The snowfall is important not just for tourism but as a lifeline for the glaciers which keep our rivers and streams flowing and agriculture fields irrigated. High-altitude areas retain their sub-zero temperatures, enabling the snow to endure throughout the year. Kashmir
witnesses its heaviest snow during chilai kalan – the 40-day harshest period beginning on December 20 – and the snowfall progressively reduces in February and March when spring sets in. This keeps glaciers replenished. Alarmingly, the experts fear a drastic reduction in snowfall by the century's end, and this can have horrific consequences not just for Kashmir but the region. Here's hoping that such dire weather prognostications don't come true. This winter has begun well on the weather front and hopefully it should also end well.

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