IDUKKI: There’s good news to tourists planning their Christmas holidays in Munnar: the temperature in the hill station has dipped to zero degrees Celsius, the lowest this season.
According to the data available with the United Planters’ Association of Southern India (UPASI), the lowest minimum temperature of zero degrees Celsius was recorded at the Chundavurrai Estate in Munnar on Tuesday.
Among other areas, Silent Valley witnessed a temperature of 2 degrees Celsius, Devikulam 3 degrees, Lechmi 4 degrees, Sevenmalai 7 degrees, Madupatty 3 degrees and Nullathanni 2 degrees Celsius. Thick layers of frost and fog have turned the grasslands into a white carpet spread across the area.
People associated with the tourism industry hope that the mercury would drop to minus degrees soon.
“We hope Munnar will experience the highest footfall after 2020 this season. From Saturday, there is a heavy rush of visitors at all tourism points near Munnar,” Asish Varghese, an adventure tourist guide, told TNIE.
He said almost all hotels in Munnar have 90% booking from December 20 till December 31. “From Wednesday, most of the hotels will be fully booked,” he said.
Hotelier Sabu Thomas said that since the Covid outbreak in 2020, the hill station had been experiencing a dull tourist season during winters, with the climate too changing drastically in the past few years.
“This time, however, the dipping temperatures have given out hope that the tourist industry will rebound this Christmas and New Year season,” he said.
Apart from families, adventure buffs too are thronging the hill station to enjoy trekking and witness the fog-laden hills amid the cool climate.
Local residents and tourists were seen gathering around bonfires to stay warm, a scene typical of winter mornings in the hills. However, frost fall is expected hit crops, including tea, in Munnar.
The Kanan Devan Hills Plantation had lost tea over 500 hectares last year. This season too, if the frost fall persists, tea leaves may wilt.