People take joy in Tiger Hill snowfall

SNS | Darjeeling | 28 January, 2016:Tiger Hill, the popular tourist spot in Darjeeling Hills, witnessed light snowfall on Wednesday, which sent mercury in the Hills plummeting.

The snowfall in the area, around 11km away from Darjeeling town and at an altitude of 3482 feet, came almost a week after the highest point in West Bengal, Sandakhphu, was witnessed the season’s first snowfall on January 20.

While elated tourists flocked to Tiger Hill on receiving news of the snowfall on Wednesday, some locals too piled into taxis and cars and hurried to the area.

“As soon as I heard about the snowfall, me and my wife headed towards Tiger Hill to witness the snowfall. It’s a great feeling to witness a snowfall. However, the fact that the snow did not accumulate for long was a little disheartening,” said Kalyan Ghosh from Darjeeling.

“We rejoiced at what we saw today—the silver flakes falling,” said Bijay Saxena, a tourist from Kolkata.

Another tourist from Kolkata, Partha Halder, exclaimed--“Superb! What could be better than an opportunity to witness a snowfall here.”

The snowfall followed by icy winds resulted in a steep fall in the temperature as mercury dipped to -2 degrees Celsius, while the entire region came under the grip of a biting cold wave.