Snow Disappears from Uttarakhand’s Om Parvat for First Time Ever, Returns After Recent Snowfall

GG News Bureau
Dehradun, 28th August. For the first time ever, snow completely vanished from Om Parvat in Uttarakhand last week, leaving visitors perplexed. Experts attribute this unprecedented phenomenon to a combination of factors including scanty rain, scattered snowfall over the past five years in the upper Himalayan region, increased vehicular pollution, and global warming.

Om Parvat, located at an altitude of approximately 14,000 feet in Vyas Valley, is renowned for its distinctive snow pattern resembling the Hindi word “Om,” from which it derives its name. Visitors were taken aback when the hill was observed to be entirely snowless.

“It was really disappointing to see Om Parvat, which has a reputation for being eternally snow-clad, completely devoid of snow during my visit on August 16,” said one visitor. Another local, Urmila Sanwal from Gunji village, shared photos showing the snowless hill, noting, “The spot was barely recognizable without its snow.”

Dhan Singh Bisht, in charge of the Adi Kailash yatra base camp in Dharchula, expressed astonishment, “In my 22 years of service with Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam, I have never seen Om Parvat completely snowless.” Traditionally, the annual snow melting rate at Om Parvat was 95-99 percent, but this year it had melted entirely. Fortunately, snowfall on Monday night restored the snow cover.

District administration officials in Pithoragarh were relieved to see the return of snow, which had been absent from the popular tourist destination. Bisht attributed the total snow disappearance to the region’s recent scanty rainfall and snowfall.

Sunil Nautiyal, Director of the GB Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment in Almora, linked the snow disappearance to rising temperatures in the eco-sensitive Himalayan zones due to increased fuel-driven vehicles and global warming. “We need to assess the bearing capacity of sensitive high Himalayan areas and address rampant forest fires, as carbon emissions from these fires are also harming these vulnerable regions,” Nautiyal stated.

The surge in tourist footfall following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Jolingkong last October is also considered a contributing factor. Krishna Garbiyal, a resident of Garbiyang village, noted, “Tourist numbers have increased tenfold since Modi’s visit for a darshan of the Adi Kailash peak.”