(TibetanReview.net, Oct12’26) – Sudden heavy snowfall is stated to have severely affected normal life in remote western Tibet’s Ngari prefecture, resulting in loss of electricity, collapse of residential buildings, deaths of domestic herds, and many visitors being stranded, including around 300 from Nepal.
All the seven counties of Ngari – Gar, Purang, Tsamda, Rutog, Ge-gye, Gertse, and Tsochen – have been affected, but especially Purang and Tsamda, reported the Tibetan-language tibettimes.net Oct 5, citing local news outlet Kharying Ngari. Also, Nepal’s onlinekhabar.com Oct 8 said around 300 Nepali citizens were stranded in Purang due to the Hilsa-Simkot road being blocked by heavy snowfall.
The seven counties were stated to have seen heavy snowfall over Sep 25-27, with the average thickness being 121.9 mm. In the case of Purang (home to the popular pilgrimage and tourist destination of Mt Kailash) and Tsamda counties, the average was stated to be 15 to 35 mm. In the southern part of Tsochen, the thickness of the snowfall was stated to be 8-15 mm, while it was 6-20 mm in northeastern Rutog, southwestern and northern Gertse, southeastern Gar, and southern and northern Gegye.
The weather forecast at that time was cited as saying Purang and Tsamda would experience snowfalls of 15 to 35 mm, with the other areas coming under 20 to 50 mm of snowfall. A second round of snowfall was forecasted to be 5-20 cm thick.
The Kharying Ngari report was cited as saying the Mt Kailash area experienced such sudden, heavy snowfall that it fully covered the pilgrimage circuit route, resulting in serious danger to the safety of travellers. As a result, an order was issued on Sep 26 afternoon, imposing a temporary ban on pilgrims and other visitors from the Mt Kailash area. Many pilgrims and Tibetan nomads were stated to be stranded as a result, with lack of food.
Many buildings in Ngari were stated to be buried by snowfall, with residences collapsing under snowfall measuring over one metre thick. Many domestic herds were stated to have died from hunger and cold, causing severe losses to the local inhabitants.
Besides, the whole of Ngari was stated to be left without electric power, including with power-lines having snapped. The hardship was stated to be most severe in Purang and Tsamda counties in southern Ngari. Visitors stranded in Purang have said the accumulated snowfall there measured more than a metre thick.
Among those stranded in Purang are stated to be around 300 Nepalis from various parts of Humla district in Karnali Province, located in northwestern Nepal, with more than 150 being from its Namkha Rural Municipality. They had travelled there for trade, employment and other works.
The report cited a Nepali named Sam Chen, stranded in Purang, as saying online that some Indians were also among those stranded there.
The report said continuous snowfall in the high Himalayan region was expected to make clearing the road take time. The Hilsa-Simkot road is the main route for the people of Humla in Nepal to travel to Tibet and the heavy snowfall has directly affected their daily life, trade and movement, said the onlinekhabar.com report.