Weather uncertainty hovers over Asia’s oldest natural ice skating rink in Shimla, which is increasingly witnessing shrinking sessions intermittently, with the passage of time. The hopes of adventure lovers were dashed once again on Monday as the ice skating had to be abandoned within one day because of bad weather. Many of them said they got to know late and missed the opportunity for ice skating on opening day and now they will have to wait even more.

“It all depends on weather as it’s a natural ice skating rink. We had conducted a trial and it was successful, so we started on Sunday. It wasn’t possible today,” Bhuvnesh Banga, Secretary Shimla Ice Skating Club told The Statesman.

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The ice skating rink in Shimla came into existence in 1920 during the British Raj days and since then, the more than nine decade old Shimla Ice Skating Club plays host to the winter skating activities. The rink saw the minimum 12 sessions in 1972. The maximum 118 ice skating sessions were held in 1997-98.

Ice skating is a major attraction for locals and the tourists in Shimla in winters. It generally starts in the first week of December. Last year, the ice skating began with much delay on 27 December and there were only eight sessions. As per records, December 2016 was the warmest in history of Shimla as the maximum temperature had risen to 22 degrees. This situation was not congenial for ice skating.

“The start of ice skating is disappointing this time. But we do hope a better deal by weather Gods this year as the temperature has remained normal so far, with minimum figure touching 5-8 degrees Celsius in the state capital these days,” said an ice skating lover in Shimla.

Global warming apart, the locals believe that reckless construction activity adjacent to the ice skating rink in Lakkar Bazaar coupled with rising pollution levels (with bus stand nearby) has also added to the shrinking ice skating seasons in Shimla.

A clear sky with minimum temperature below 5 degrees is a pre- requisite for freezing of ice. “With such a weather uncertainty a semi artificial rink is the only possibility to save the sport as other factors are beyond control and irreversible,” said experts.

It is pertinent to mention that keeping with change in weather pattern, the central government has already okayed a semi artificial open ice skating rink in Shimla under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) project for the hill city. The state government, on the other hand, wants to develop a commercial complex, with ice skating rink and parking, which the experts said is not possible due to sinking zone.