Tourists face hard time as heavy snowfall blankets Nathu La

Heavy snowfall in Nathu La and nearby areas blocked Jawaharlal Nehru road at several places, forcing the tourism department to not issue a permit to the tourists' vehicles for traveling to Changu Lake and other destinations in East Sikkim from Saturday, an official said.

The snowfall since Friday made traveling to these tourist spots impossible as road connectivity was severely disrupted, a police officer at Sherathang check post said. In view of hazardous road conditions, the tourism department has stopped giving permits to tourists' vehicles from this morning to ply on the 52-km long road connecting the state capital with Nathu La, the official said. Works are underway to clear snow and restore the connectivity, the official said.

"No permits will be issued to Tsomgo (Changu) Lake and Baba Mandir till the road is reopened," he said. Around 500 vehicles ply on the road carrying nearly 2,500 tourists every day for visiting the scenic places.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)