Fresh snowfall in the upper reaches and rains in the plains on Tuesday ended the longest dry spell in years in Kashmir valley.
Officials said that light snowfall was received in ski-resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.
Reports of snowfall were also received from Shopian in south Kashmir while rains lashed the plains of the valley.
#WATCH: Fresh snowfall in the upper reaches of Kashmir, including the tourist resort of Gulmarg, breaks five month long dry spell. pic.twitter.com/rq6lKmSoms
— ANI (@ANI_news) January 3, 2017
“It has been snowing in Gulmarg since the wee hours today and if it continues for the next 48 hours, as has been forecast, we shall be able to organise a lot more snow-based activities during the coming Snow Carnival,” Deputy Director Tourism Department Peerzada Zahoor told PTI.
Zahoor said the carnival will be held from January 21 to February 5 this year.
The tourism department is planning a wide range of activities for wooing tourists to Gulmarg during the carnival, which has been a hit with the visitors in the past, he said.
“We will have ice hockey, snowboarding, snow sledging, snowball fight competition and painting competitions during the carnival,” the official said.
He said Tourism Department will also organise a ‘night bazaar’ (market) and cultural shows at the Gulmarg bowl so that the tourists have a wider range of activities to choose from.
“If the snow accumulation is in the range of four to five feet, we will also add snow skiing to the events of the carnival,” Zahoor said.
