Chhangu: Quake memories melt with the snow - Tourist flow to Chhangu lake gathers steam

Chhangu, Feb. 17.TT: The snow-clad mountains of Nathu-la are once again teeming with visitors after a bleak tourism season caused by the earthquake.

Around 100 vehicles carrying tourists visited the frozen Chhangu lake at 12,310ft daily on an average this month to enjoy the snowfall. The Chhangu lake in East Sikkim is the spot nearest to the state capital where one can enjoy snow before it melts in the summer.

Around 60 tourist vehicles used to reach the Nathu-la corridor consisting of the border pass, Chhangu lake and Baba Mandir on an average a day in January. “But now around 100 vehicles carrying tourists go to Nathu-la everyday,” said a constable posted at 3rd Mile checkpost along the Jawaharlal Nehru Marg.

With the tourist footfall increasing in February, snacks and souvenir stalls at Kyangnosla and Chhangu lake are doing brisk business and herders offering yak rides are taking home at least Rs 300 everyday. “Tourists have started coming here in January when the snowfall started. I think the fear triggered by the September 18 earthquake has waned. Each yak herder is now earning around Rs 300 on an average daily,” said Lalit Tamang, a yak herder at Chhangu lake, 35km from Gangtok.

About 120 families living in Chhangu and Chipsu, the two villages in the vicinity of the lake, are solely dependent on tourism for livelihood. Their businesses had dropped drastically following the quake, which killed scores of people and snapped road and telecommunication links. JN Marg , the road connecting Gangtok and Nathu-la, was also affected by the tremor. The road was restored by the Border Roads Organisation on September 30.

A Chhangu resident said he hoped that the number of tourists would go up in the summer. “Not many are visiting the place as this is an off-season. During the summer, around 700 tourist vehicles come here everyday. We didn’t have business till January after the earthquake. We hope tourists will come in large numbers from the next month,” said a shopkeeper at Chhangu lake shopping complex.

“But we are also worried about the road condition. If the road (JN Marg) is blocked by landslides, we are bound to suffer again.”

The Chhangu panchayat head, Chewang Norbu Bhutia, also voiced concern over the condition of JN Marg. “Landslides will occur anytime because of the BRO work to widen the JN Marg. Tourists won’t be able to come here if the road is blocked by landslides as it rains and snows here regularly.”