Shimla, Jan. 2 -- Once adorned in white, the queen of hills now wears colours of waiting, as a decade has passed since Shimla experienced a snowy New Year. Except for "White Christmas" of 2024, the peaks of the state capital remained bare. A snowy New Year has been elusive here since 2016. As per the data since 2010 by the weather department, the snowfall occurrence in the city is declining. From 2010-2016, only 2011 was the year, when the hill city was not blanketed in snow. However, from 2016, there has been no snowfall. The snowfall as rainfall in winters depends on Western Disturbances, which for not just this year, but over the last three years have been weak, thus resulting in no snowfall, said an official from IMD. "The intensity and frequency of WDs are less so there is lesser snowfall. In December this year we saw around 7 WDs which was higher than the usual pattern of 6 WDs every year in this month. But they were weak so there was no snowfall," said Shobhit Katiyar, senior scientist, IMD, Himachal Pradesh. With the snowfall giving Shimla a miss - the district authorities are using cotton to create selfie points on The Ridge for tourists during the Winter Carnival that was held between December 24 to January 1. Not just this, many adventure sports owners used artificial snow. The erratic snowfall, especially in December, has hit the tourism sector the hardest. "We used to have a great winter season December 15 onwards. Tourists come to Shimla for snow. If there's no snow, itwill be difficult to attract tourists," says Mohinder Seth, president of the Shimla hotels and tourism stakeholders' association....