Snow vanished completely from Uttarakhand’s Om Parvat last week for the first time ever, leaving visitors puzzled. Experts have attributed this phenomenon to a combination of factors: inadequate rainfall and scattered snowfall in the upper Himalayan region over the past five years, increased vehicular pollution, and global warming, news agency PTI reported.

An official had warned that tourism in the region could be negatively affected if the hill remained snowless for an extended period. Fortunately, snowfall on Monday night restored the snow cover on Om Parvat.

Om Parvat, a renowned tourist destination in Vyas Valley in Pithoragarh district, sits at an altitude of 5,590 m. The snow on the hill naturally forms a pattern resembling the Hindi word "Om," which is how the spot got its name.

Urmila Sanwal, a resident of Gunji village, who clicked some photos of the snowless Om Parvat said, “There was no snow on the ‘Om’ shaped hill. The spot was barely recognisable without snow.”

Dhan Singh Bisht, who is in charge of the base camp of Adi Kailash yatra in Dharchula, said, “It is for the first time in my 22 years of service in Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam (KMVN) that I saw a completely snowless Om Parvat,” reported PTI. 

The KMVN official noted that the annual snow melting rate at Om Parvat used to be between 95-99 percent, but this year, the snow melted completely.

Fortunately, Bisht added, snowfall on Monday night has restored the snow cover on Om Parvat.

Bisht, who has 20 years of experience organizing the Kailash-Mansarowar and Adi Kailash yatras, reported that district administration officials in Pithoragarh were initially shocked by viral photos of the snowless Om Parvat. They have since been relieved to see that snow has returned to the popular tourist destination.

Bisht attributed the complete disappearance of snow this year to scanty rainfall and scattered snowfall in the upper Himalayan region over the past five years, reported PTI.

Sunil Nautiyal, Director of the GB Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment in Almora, linked the snow disappearance to rising temperatures in the ecologically sensitive Himalayan zones. He pointed to increased fuel-driven vehicle emissions and the broader impacts of global warming as contributing factors.

Speaking to PTI, Nautiyal said, “To check this, we will have to determine the bearing capacity of all sensitive places of the high Himalayan region as well as rampant forest fires as carbon generated by forest fires is also damaging the sensitive spots in the Himalayan region.”