The army rescued around 15,00 tourists who were stuck near Tsomgo Lake and Nathu-la in East Sikkim following persistent snowfall on Friday.

Around 300 taxis carrying the tourists, including many from Bengal, couldn’t move on JN Marg because of huge deposits of ice on the road. As the temperature hovered below two-three degrees Celsius, they were shivering at altitudes above 12,000ft.

“The weather was inclement and the visibility was poor. The tourists were stranded between 13th Mile and Nathu-la (along a stretch of 10-15km). There were around 300 taxis which were returning from Nathu-la and Tsomgo Lake in the evening,” said a source in the army.

The army personnel posted near the China border helped the tourists walk through the ice and took them to the nearby military camps. The tourists, who included children and elderly people, were provided with food, shelter, warm clothes and medicines.

“We were stuck in Nathu-la as the vehicles could not move. We then found the army men who guided us to their camps and helped us with all necessary relief. The temperature was steadily dropping and we doubt whether we could have sustained the cold if we had to spend the night under open sky,” said Rajesh Mishra from Pune. He had been on the trip with his wife.

After the tourists were shifted to the camps, the army personnel engaged excavators and other machines to clear the snow and restore the road connectivity.

“The evacuation of tourists started this morning and by afternoon, all of them were sent to Gangtok (around 40km away),” a source said.

The Sikkim government didn’t issue permits — as is required for any tourist travelling to Tsomgo Lake and Nathu-la — on Friday and Saturday because of the possibility of snowfall. The permit is issued a day ahead of the travel.

“Right now, we cannot say if permits will be issued on Sunday as weather remains the same and there is always a risk of tourists getting stranded in case there is a snowfall,” said a travel agent in Gangtok.

Sources said there had been snowfall in Lachen and Lachung and some other areas in North Sikkim.

“Some tourists are visiting these places also and there has been no problem with road connectivity so far,” said a transporter.

In the past 24 hours, the minimum temperature in Darjeeling was 1.6 degrees Celsius, while it was 5 degrees in Siliguri, 4 degrees in Kalimpong and 3.2 degrees in Gangtok.

The minimum temperature was 9.1 degrees in Cooch Behar and 8.2 degrees in Jalpaiguri, said Met office sources.

Additional reporting by Rajeev Ravidas in Gangtok