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Shimla ice-skating rink feels the heat of global warming
This season, the annual Fancy Dress Carnival, hosted at the rink around Christmas time, was also cancelled due to scanty snow. Besides, the national ice-skating championships also had to be shifted to Kaza and Leh due to erratic weather in the Queen of Hills. Shimla had last hosted a national ice-skating championship in 2002.
Global warming has started showing its impact on the century-old ice-skating rink in Shimla, which has been shut since January, a month in advance, due to erratic weather conditions.
The rink normally opens in December when a 15cm thick ice layer forms here and remains open till February. This season, the skating rink opened on December 13, 2022, and closed after 35 sessions on January 23.
During peak winter, the ice-skating club holds two sessions a day, however, since 2010, the sessions have been hampered by unusually warm weather conditions.
This season, the annual Fancy Dress Carnival, hosted at the rink around Christmas time, was also cancelled due to scanty snow. Besides, the national ice-skating championships also had to be shifted to Kaza and Leh due to erratic weather in the Queen of Hills. Shimla had last hosted a national ice-skating championship in 2002.
Shimla ice-skating rink secretary Manpreet Singh Sembi says, “Due to unusually high temperatures, we have had to reduce the ice-skating sessions. Our management has been seeking government’s assistance to convert the open-air rink into an all-weather rink.”
Citing global warming, head of the Himachal Pradesh India Meteorological Department said, “Temperatures in Shimla have been rising for the last few years. The sudden rise in temperature has resulted in less snow. Western Disturbances, which bring snow to the region, have also been feeble this winter. These were stronger in the higher reaches, where snowfall was seen.”
Rajat Malhotra, member and coach of the ice-skating club that holds the national ice-skating championships, says, “I have been skating in the Shimla rink since my childhood. The weather change has impacted the sessions. There was a time when more than 90 sessions used to be held in one season, now it’s gradually reducing.”
Not just the common man, VIPs such as former prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, actors Raj Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Sanjiv Kumar, Manoj Kumar, and MG Ramachandran, Saroja Devi, Kum Kum, Rajshri, Sadhana etc have also been drawn to this ice-rink.
