Snowfall In

40-day harsh winter period when the chances of snowfall are maximum and most frequent - has brought cheers to both the tourists as well as the tourism players.

Hundreds of tourists, including children, have been enjoying the snowfall at Gulmarg and Sonamarg resorts.

“We had booked tickets for January 23, but we postponed our journey after checking the forecast. We arrived on January 25 and were lucky to see the snowfall. We experienced snowfall first in Sonamarg and then in Gulmarg as well. We are so thrilled to be here,” Aninda and Deotima, a tourist couple from Kolkata, said at Gulmarg.

They said Kashmir really looks like a paradise after snowfall. Mohammad Imran, a tourist from Nagpur in Maharashtra said he returned to the Gulmarg resort again after the snowfall.

“Two days back, there was nothing and the ground looked empty. By the grace of God, now there is snow and we feel great to be here... When we heard there was snowfall in Gulmarg, we came back from Srinagar,” he said.

Aryan, a young tourist from Bangalore who has come to Kashmir with his parents and sister, said it was a great feeling. “It feels so good. It looks like heaven,” he said, enjoying the snowfall.

Ankit Makane, a part of a 15-member tourist group from Mumbai, enjoyed playing in the snow at Sonamarg. “It feels truly and literally like heaven. Kashmir is so beautiful and the people here are really amazing. We enjoyed a lot,” he said.

It is not only the tourists who are cheered up, the snowfall has sparked joy among the local tourism players as well. “We thank God for the snow. We feel very happy because it will not only increase tourism, but it is vital for the sustenance,” Parvaiz Ahmad, a local tourism service provider in Gulmarg, said.

Another stakeholder, Abdul Rashid, said the livelihoods of private service providers were affected due to a prolonged dry spell over the last two months, but the snowfall has come as a blessing.

“For the past two months, there was not much work. With the snowfall, the tourist arrivals have increased and the snow-related activities have started,” Rashid said.

In the absence of snowfall at popular tourist spots like Sonamarg and Gulmarg, the tourists used to make a beeline to places like Sinthan Top