SNOWFALL is windfall in J&K

Amit Khajuria in Jammu

While the Valley and the rest of Jammu and Kashmir grappled with a dry weather and weighed its adverse consequences, suddenly the snowflakes appeared covering the whole landscape with a white blanket. The state believes its prayers have been answered.

“Mubarak, sheen mubarak” (greetings for snowfall) — Kashmir was abuzz with winter bonhomie. Enthusiasts started posting pictures on social media and children tried their hand at making snowman and playing snowballs. This is something that they had been missing for several winters: snowfall eluded them during chillian kalan — the severest period of Kashmir winter. The snowfall beginning Dec 20 is a good omen for agriculture, orchards and rivers.

This year’s snowfall has a special meaning; it has revived hopes of good tourist footfalls, which suffered a violent jolt in July last year following turmoil post Burhan Wani’s killing. All that the Valley had gained during the first few months of the last year — arrival of 11 lakh tourists — was washed away by violent protests. 

The arrival of tourists, though small in number, tour operators hope for a better life. Stunningly beautiful pictures of snow-covered places like Gulmarg, Pahalgam, Srinagar, Sanasar, Patnitop and Bhaderwah on social media and broadcast by the electronic media have transformed the physical image of the state. Streets are full of welcoming snow as boats rest in frozen lakes with tourists reveling in snowfall in Patnitop and Sanasar.

Patnitop — a tourist resort on Jammu-Srinagar Highway about 110 km from the winter capital of Jammu, and also known as mini-Gulmarg –saw crowds of tourists thronging the hill station. Tourists enjoyed every moment of wading through snow and falling snow flakes – a dream come true for many coming from the plains. “I have never seen anything like this before,” says Parveen Cheema, a businesswoman from Amritsar. She had intended to go to Kashmir but road blockage caused by the snowfall on the highway forced her to stay at Patnitop. On her return, she found this as a “unique experience.”

Sanasar, about 20 km from Patnitop, is a mesmerizing journey with deodar and snowballs reflecting on the windscreens of cars. These scenes they had seen only in western movies.

The tourism department is working 24x7. It has planned snow carnivals in Gulmarg and Patnitop. “We are quite hopeful that the carnivals would attract tourists. This is a rare opportunity, and we are going to seize it to tell the world how we are equal to Switzerland in natural beauty,” exults Visheesh Mahajan, joint director tourism, Jammu. He is currently involved in organizing the snow carnival at Patnitop. Gulmarg is also making huge preparations for the snow carnival, due January 25, the same day when it would be organized at Patnitop. Secretary Tourism Farooq Shah is busy visiting places to ensure maximum tourists return to the Valley. 

The tourists, however, have a problem of connectivity. The traffic is disrupted at several places and air traffic is erratic and highly expensive. “The government should make some arrangements for a hassle-free connectivity for tourists, otherwise the hope of the revival of the tourism would not translate into as big a reality as it should be,” says Mushtaq Chaya, a leading hotelier of Kashmir who has a chain of hotels in Jammu, Katra, Srinagar, Pahalgam, Gulmarg and Tangmarg.