Sandakphu receives first snowfall of the season

EOI, DARJEELING, DEC 7, 2023 : Sandakphu in West Bengal bordering the countries of India and Nepal at a height of11929 ft, received the season's first snowfall on Thursday.

The snowfall in Sandakphu is expected to bring in a rush of tourists even as the hills gears up for the Christmas holiday and the winter season." 

At around 2.30 p.m on the afternoon it started snowing. It was brief but it picked up density as the hours went by," said Anil Tamang, assistant secretary of the Singalia Land Rover Association over phone from Maneybhanjyang, the starting point to Sandakphu.

With connectivity disrupted, Tamang however said not much snow had accumulated to inconvenience to travelers.

"This is the first bout of snow. Not much snow have accumulated. We have quite a number of tourists in Sandakphu at the moment. However if it continues to snow then we may have an issue of ferrying passengers" he said. Given its height, Sandakphu usually receives the first snowfall each year even as Darjeeling town is bereft of snow. 

A few local residents on trek to Sandakphu deem edit wise to return back to Darjeeling to avoid getting stuck for days. "We were planning to go to Phalut but there was a slight drizzle of snow. To avoid getting stuck up we decided to return back," said Rupendra Pradhan, a businessman.

Hoteliers too expressed optimism of a rush of visitors with the sudden snowfall at Sandakphu. "We are getting inquiries about the snowfall. 

Although the town is not expected to receive snowfall for the moment, we however expect visitors to rush in just the same," said Sudan Singh, a hotelier. Temperatures in Sandakphu reached minus degree while in Darjeeling town the barometer hovered around 5 to 6 degrees accompanied by drizzle of rain and chilly conditions.