MUSSORIE: Mussoorie residents look forward to snowfall and tourists ahead of Republic Day long weekend , after Met department’s predictions of overcast conditions and rain over the next few days in the hill town. According to local businessmen, a snowfall is bound to ensure tourist influx. Concerned old timers, however, await snow to recharge the underground aquifers since according to them, Mussoorie last received a good amount of snowfall almost five years ago.“A system is building in the Western Himalayan region and over the next few days Mussoorie might get rainfall and hopefully even snow,” says Anand Sharma, deputy director general of Met department.Met predictions and the prevailing overcast conditions have raised the hopes of the local citizenry, especially the senior citizens who have been worried about the declining frequency and intensity of snowfall in the town.“We have not had a good snowfall since January 2014. This winter we expected to get a good snowfall but till date we have been disappointed. Let’s pray that it snows over the next few days,” said Pramod Kapoor, a senior citizen.Reminiscing the 1950s, Kapoor explained that it used to always snow in the months of December and January, and there used to be as much as 2 to 4 feet of snow on the Mall road.“I am told that in 1945-46, Mussoorie got 8 to 10 feet of snow. There was a light snowfall even in Rajpur. Now, however, it seems that things have changed,” Kapoor added.According to old timers, a good snowfall is extremely important for the environment particularly for recharging the underground aquifers that feed various water springs which are water sources for this hill town.Meanwhile, local businessmen are looking forward to a snowfall due to economic reasons.“A snowfall always attracts a large number of tourists which is good news for hoteliers as well as shopkeepers here. This would be the best time to get a snowfall as a long weekend is round the corner and tourist footfall could be quite high,” said a local shopkeeper.It must be mentioned that this winter there have been a few short spells of snowfall in the town but the snow has failed to settle on the ground, particularly in the Mall road area. However, over the past month, there has been some snowing in the higher areas adjoining Mussoorie such as Buranskhanda and Dhanaulti.

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