Brief spell of snow at Narkanda, Kufri; dry weather from today

Shimla, December 30

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While the tourists anticipating snowfall in Shimla were left disappointed for the second successive day, the visitors who travelled to the nearby hill stations like Kufri and Narkanda did experience a brief spell of snowfall. While the capital stayed largely dry following the light drizzle on Thursday evening, Kufri and Narkanda, in particular, did receive some snowfall, cheering up the tourists and the local hoteliers.

“There weren’t many tourists in Narkanda until yesterday. But following a brief spell of snowfall last evening, the footfall increased today. It’s snowing here at the moment and the tourists are enjoying themselves,” said Kamal Sharma, a resident of Narkanda. The precipitation, though, wasn’t more than a couple of inches until late in the evening.

Going by the forecast of weather department, more snowfall is unlikely over the next few days. The department is predicting dry weather across the state from tomorrow onwards over the next five days, meaning there will be no snowfall on the eve of the New Year tomorrow.

Nevertheless, the city hotels are expecting good occupancy for the New Year celebrations. Anticipating a rush of tourists on the New Year eve, the district administration has decided to not allow the tourists, who are coming without confirmed hotel booking, to drive into the city. Their vehicles will be stopped at Tutikandi and they will be ferried to the city through a shuttle service of Himachal Road Transport Corporation.

“Electric buses, tempo travellers and taxi will be pressed into service to ferry the tourists from Tutikandi to the main city. Their vehicles will be parked at the Tutikandi parking,” said DC Shimla Aditya Negi. “The shuttle service will be available till 11 pm in the night,” said Negi.