Heavy Snowfall Hits Indo-China Border: Red Alert Issued for Sikkim as Temperatures Plummet

A view of snow-covered roads along the Tsomgo-Nathula route, in Sikkim.

Gangtok (Sikkim):

Fresh snowfall has blanketed the higher elevations along the Indo-China border, including the Nathula Pass area, on Friday, causing temperatures across Sikkim to drop significantly. Several high-altitude regions experienced sub-zero temperatures, which has disrupted movement along critical mountain routes.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) reported heavy to very heavy snowfall around Nathula, Kupup, and Tsomgo (Changu) Lake since early morning. A red alert has been issued for Sikkim by the IMD, warning that severe weather conditions may continue for the next 24 hours.

Tourists and transport operators have been advised by local authorities to avoid traveling to higher elevations as roads have become hazardous due to snow accumulation. Border Roads Organisation (BRO) teams are working continuously to clear snow and maintain essential connectivity.

Residents have been encouraged to take necessary precautions, while disaster response teams have been placed on standby by the state government.

Officials indicated that temperatures in the Nathula region could decrease further overnight, marking this as one of the earliest and heaviest snowfalls of the season.

In related news, the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) has disbursed Rs 8.3 lakh to Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) in Uttar Pradesh and Sikkim under the Access and Benefit Sharing framework, as specified in the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, according to the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change on Saturday.

The funds were directly transferred to two BMCs: the Narrau village Biodiversity Management Committee in Akrabad Kaul Taluk, Aligarh District, Uttar Pradesh, and the Biodiversity Management Committee in the Lampokhari Lake Area, Aritar, Sikkim, through their respective State Biodiversity Boards.

The Ministry reported that one company accessed crop materials within Narrau village for producing fermentable compounds from lignocellulosic biomass, while another company collected microorganisms from water and soil samples in the Lampokhari Lake area for research purposes.

Through channeling these funds, the NBA is empowering local custodians to take a leading role in biodiversity conservation and sustainable resource management.

Previously, the NBA had released Rs 1.36 crore to support grassroots biodiversity conservation efforts in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.