Tourism entrepreneurs worried due lack of snowfall in Pathibhara area

TAPLEJUNG, Feb 09: Lack of timely snowfall and rainfall in Pathibhara region is having direct and indirect impact on the ecosystem.

According to the statistics of Pathibhara Area Development Committee, 20,000 religious tourists reach Pathibhara in a single day. Similarly, Kanchenjunga is the second highest mountain in the world. Tourism is the main source of income for the communities living in the Kanchenjunga region.

Office Secretary of Kanchenjunga Conservation and Management Council, Manakumar Limbu, said that problems have started due to lack of timely snowfall and rain in the Pathibhara area. Tourists come to snow mountain to observe and enjoy the Mountain. Tourism businessman Serap Sherpa said that he is worried that if the mountain becomes like a black rock, tourists will not come to see the black rock.

According to the statistics of the council, 52 small and big investment hotels are operating on the trekking route to Mt. Kanchenjunga, targeting tourists coming to Kanchenjunga. Singi Namjong Hotel, built with an investment of more than seven million rupees in Paktanglung Rural Municipality-6 Gyapla, has been locked after tourists did not come.

Jiten Chemjong, program assistant coordinator of Kanchanjunga Conservation Area Management Council office, said that four hotels built with an investment of more than one million rupees are operating at a height of 3,500 meters to 4,500 meters above sea level. According to Chemjong, the hotel is operating with an investment of Rs 80 lakh and above.

The Kanchenjunga trail, which used to be crowded with domestic and foreign tourists in the past years, is now deserted. Kanchenjunga Conservation and Management Council Office Secretary Manakumar Limbu said that 439 foreign tourists visited the Mt.  Kanchenjunga in four months from last August to November. According to Limbu, the arrival of tourists in November is zero.

In the year 2076/77, 386 male and 186 female foreign tourists came to Mt. Kanchenjunga in the statistics of the Kanchenjunga Area Management Council. 25 male and four female tourists from SAARC countries have come to Kanchenjunga mountain.

In 2056, 799 foreign tourists came to visit Kanchenjunga. In 2057, eight hundred and seventy three foreign tourists came. According to the statistics of the council, 11197 foreign tourists came to see the Kanchenjunga mountain from 2057 to 2077.

As the snow melts in the mountains, which are as white as silver, they become like black rocks. Last year, snowfall started in the Himalayan region of Taplejung from the third week of November. But this year it hasn't snowed yet. According to Pema Sherpa, a hotelier from Ghunsa, the tourist businessmen are worried that the beauty of the mountains has been lost due to the absence of snow.