Several high-altitude areas of Ladakh, including Khardung La pass, the second highest motorable pass in the world, witnessed the season’s first snowfall, much earlier than usual, as moderate rain lashed the plains in the Union territory, officials said on Tuesday.
Most mountain passes in Ladakh as well as areas like Leh, Kargil and Drass have received light to moderate snowfall over the past 24 hours, officials said, adding that the ongoing summer festival in the picturesque Suru valley was also covered in snow.
“For the first time in my life, I have witnessed such heavy snowfall in August here in Ladakh. Even the villagers said they had never seen snowfall of this magnitude during this month,” Union minister Kiren Rijiju, who was in Ladakh to take part in the festival, was quoted as saying by a local news agency. “The unusual weather disrupted the festival we had gathered to celebrate.”
Officials said most mountain passes, including the Khardung La top, which at 18,379 feet high serves as the gateway to the Shyok and Nubra valleys, Changla Top situated at the height of 17,950 feet along the Leh-Pangong Tso road, and areas in the Zanskar Valley also received snowfall in the last 24 hours.
“Despite the challenges, the beauty of this tourist destination remains unmatched, and such moments remind us of nature’s power and unpredictability,” Rijiju added.
The Met department, meanwhile, has issued a red weather warning for Ladakh, predicting heavy rain at many places, light to moderate rain on Tuesday with heavy showers at isolated locations, followed by dry weather from Wednesday till August 30.
Experts cited persistent wet spells in Ladakh as a possible reason for earlier than usual snowfall.
“Normally snowfall doesn’t happen during this time of the year even in the higher reaches. It starts around September-end. But because it has been raining continuously and that has led to lowering of temperatures further, in these cold areas, this rainfall has ultimately turned into snowfall,” Mahesh Palawat, vice president, climate and meteorology at Skymet Weather, said.
Palawat added: “Ladakh is a cold desert and continuous, heavy rain of this kind is somewhat unusual. This is happening because of an interaction of the monsoon with a western disturbance.”
The inclement weather also led to cancellation of several flights to and from the Leh airport, officials said. The flight cancellations also meant that the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, who was scheduled to return to his residence in Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh, will have to extend his stay in Leh a bit longer, officials said. The Dalai Lama arrived in Leh on July 12
Earlier in the day, Union minister Rijiju stopped his cavalcade en route to Kargil from Kashmir after noticing a private vehicle that had plunged into the Drass river in Ladakh.
“Before reaching Drass in Ladakh, one vehicle fell into the river just ahead of our convoy. Luckily, we were on time and both persons survived,” Rijiju posted on X, sharing a video of him interacting with the victims who managed to climb atop the overturned vehicle amidst the gushing waters.
(With inputs from PTI)
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