Heavy snowfall in Bengal’s highest point Sandakphu; stranded tourists brought back

Darjeeling (WB), Mar 22 (PTI) Around 40 tourists, who got stranded following heavy snowfall in West Bengal’s highest Himalayan destination Sandakphu, were evacuated to safer places, a Darjeeling district official said on Friday.

The arterial road connecting Sandakphu with Manebhanjan on the way to Darjeeling town was under about a foot of snow at some places, disrupting traffic movement.

The hamlet, which offers a stunning view of the Kanchenjunga, the Everest and some other peaks in the Himalayas, is a favourite spot among adventure-loving tourists visiting the Darjeeling hills.

“A total of 37 tourists got stranded at various homestays and hotels in Sandakphu due to the snowfall over the last few days. They wanted to return and the administration and the police brought them back on Thursday,” District Magistrate Dr Preeti Goyal told PTI over phone.

He said that the snowfall was continuing on Friday as well and the whole area was under a thick blanket of snow.

Situated at a height of 11,930 feet on the Singalila ridge in the Himalayas, Sandakphu offers a majestic view of the Kanchenjunga, Everest, Makalu and Lhotse peaks.

Darjeeling town, popularly described as the queen of the hills, recorded 31.2 mm rainfall in 24 hours till 8.30 am on Friday as the minimum temperature settled at 5.6 degrees Celsius, the Met department said.

Light to moderate rain with thunderstorms and lightning has been forecast by the Met for the next five days in the sub-Himalayan districts of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar and Alipurduar.