Snowfall in the higher altitude regions and rain in the lower altitudes on Thursday caused a drop in the mercury level especially in the mountainous regions of Uttarakhand. High altitude locations like Badrinath, Hemkund and Auli among others have been experiencing snowfall since Thursday morning. This is the fourth spell of snowfall received this year and has thrown the routine life of locals in the mountainous regions out of gear.
Due to the biting cold, most of the locals here remained indoors. However, the snowfall has come as a welcome development for winter sports enthusiasts, tourists and those employed in various activities related to tourism and winter sports.With fresh snowfall being received at the already snow-covered winter sports destination of Auli, the area now awaits fresh batch of tourists. While the local businessmen are happy with the fresh snowfall, even the skiers have welcomed the snowfall.
Though earlier tourists had to face hardships in reaching Auli with the Joshimath-Auli motor road being covered by snow, they will not have to face such problems now with the Joshimath-Auli ropeway being made operational again recently. While Joshimath is overcast by cloudy skies, the lower altitude areas have been experiencing intermittent rainfall.