Shimla/Manali, Dec 30 : After an extremely wet southwest monsoon in Himachal Pradesh that claimed several lives and damaged infrastructures, this winter has been bereft of precipitation since October 9, turning mountains brown due to the lack of a â??blanket of snowâ?? and rains. As the New Year dawns, a hope of widespread snow and rain has cheered both the tourists and local farmers.

As per the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Himachal Pradesh may receive rain and snow on December 31. â??Light rain or snow likely at isolated places on December 30 and January 2, with light to moderate rain and snow likely at many places on December 31 and at a few places on January 1 over the state,â?? said the IMD.

â??Dry weather is likely to prevail during the remaining days of the week,â?? it added.

Members of the hospitality industry say the long spell of snowless days has so far spoiled the plans of tourists to holiday in the hills. â??Now with the IMD predicting snow just ahead of the New Year dawn, we expect a good footfall of the holidaymakers,â?? a Shimla-based hotelier told IANS.

He said they were getting so many queries from tourists about the possibility of snow in and around Shimla. â??We are asking them to visit hill destinations to enjoy a snowy landscape,â?? he added.

Narkanda, the heart of the apple belt, some 65 km from the state capital, and the popular tourist resorts Manali and Dalhousie are bereft of snow cover. However, hills overlooking Manali have plenty of snow. â??We are really enjoying basking in the sun for the past many days in Shimla. We are desperately awaiting the onset of snow, the seasonâ??s first here,â?? Jagdeep Ghuman, a tourist from Delhi, told IANS.

Experts at the Dr Y.S. Parmar, University of Horticulture and Forestry in Nauni in Solan district say traditionally October to December are dry months in the state, and long-term observations (1980-2024) indicate that November receives below-normal rainfall in nearly 68.2 per cent of the years. In sub-humid mid-hill regions, nearly 30-50 per cent of soil moisture is lost through evaporation, a figure likely to increase under the current conditions. The recurrence of drought during these months has become common, and with nearly 70 per cent of the stateâ??s area being rainfed, the adoption of moisture-conservation agronomic practices has become essential, they say.

Insufficient soil moisture during the dry spell may adversely affect fruit plant saplings by hampering root development, restricting nutrient uptake and increasing susceptibility to diseases. The experts advised that new plantations of deciduous fruit crops such as apple, peach, plum, apricot, persimmon, walnut and kiwifruit should be postponed until moisture conditions improve.

For a small pea grower, Jeet Singh Negi, in mountainous Lahaul Valley, it has been an almost snowless November-December. â??Our fields are totally devoid of snow cover. We are worried as winter precipitation ensures water security in these remote villages during summer when we sow the crop of peas and barley,â?? he said.

In the state capital, around 7,000 feet above sea level, the minimum temperature on Tuesday was 10 degrees Celsius, six degrees above normal. Tabo, an ancient seat of Buddhist religion and culture in picturesque Spiti Valley, was the coldest habitat in the state, with bone-chilling cold wind of 39 km per hour.

The police have been advising the public not to go to high mountains as these places can be risky due to black ice formation early morning, where motorists canâ??t see it, their tyres canâ??t grip it, and their brakes donâ??t work properly on it. Keeping in mind to set cash registers ringing, several private hoteliers in prominent destinations have hiked room tariffs.

Information suggests a room fetching Rs 3,000 from October to mid-December is sold off at Rs 8,000 a day in most of the hotels in Shimla, Kufri, Chail, Narkanda and Kasauli. Also, government officials warned to get an advance booking of a hotel or a homestay unit before travelling as most of the hotels in the state capital, Shimla, Manali, Kasauli and Dharamsala have 90 to 98 per cent occupancy till January 4.

â??The occupancy in most of our properties is close to 80 per cent. We are expecting to do good business this week,â?? the HPTDC official told IANS.

Himachal Pradesh has no high-end hotels and restaurants in far-off areas. The trend of rural homestays that was started in 2008 has been driving tourists to the interiors, and they are the best option to stay and enjoy the pristine nature and snowy landscape.

The stateâ??s economy is highly dependent on tourism, besides hydroelectric power and horticulture.

(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.com)

/IANS