Climate change has a direct bearing on Tawang, the holy town in Arunachal Pradesh along the India–China border. Tawang draws highest number of tourists from within and outside India for its unspoiled natural beauty and famous 400–year–old Tawang monastery. The winter has been shifting from November–January to December–February, observed by Dr Monalisa Sen and Dr Jayahari KM of New Delhi–based NGO, InsPIRE Network for Environment (INE). Both Sen and Jayahari have been frequenting this town once in every three months for the last six years for their work with the local people to help them earn decent livelihood through various projects. Sela Pass, located at 13,700 feet, 74 km off Tawang, is one of the most fascinating tourist spots for heavy snowfall during winter when the Sela Lake gets frozen completely, while Tawang located at an altitude of 10,700 feet also records heavy snowfall. Though there was snowfall in October last, it was temporary and it disappeared as weather cleared, Sen and Jayhari said, and advocated a climate study to assess the level of change, factors leading to such phenomenon to decide whether any step is needed to face the situation. Internationally, the study of climate change and its impact on eco–systems and natural resources, the scientists use knowledge and experience of the communities who are technically called as ‘climate witness’. The scientists use standard methodologies to document the variations in climate witnessed by the communities and its impact on their livelihood and lifestyle, Dr Jayahari added. INE’s Arunachal project officer Ashok Bordoloi, posted at Tawang for the last six years, said that the Rhododendron project of the locals who have been making squash and earning a decent livelihood since 2009 suffered during 2010 and 2012 as the timing of snowfall shifted, casting an impact on the flowering of Rhododendron in Tawang district. “Snowfall has been very unpredictable of late. The snowfall was so heavy on March 18 last that the daily life came to a standstill for two days. The snowfall continued till April. It would occur by November end and continue till January end,” Tawang Circuit House caretaker Janardan Yadav, who has been working here since 1978, said. Many tourists were disheartened this year as they could not enjoy snowfall at Sela Pass. Photographer Dieter Wertz, who works for a German TV channel, and his wife Dominique Courbat also anticipated snowfall at Sela Pass. Wertz termed climate change a complex issue to be studied in longer term. “I cannot comment about Sela. Only elder people here could say about the change that took place during the last 50 years.” But Wertz said that glaciers are melting in Germany and Switzerland also. When Courbat rued at prohibition to visit Bumla pass along the China border, she was convinced that the border area is under Army dominance for security reasons. All tourists, including Indians, have to seek permission for visiting the Line of Actual Control (LAC). ‘No snowfall’ made no difference for Australian tourists Bridget Hardie and Sue Morrison who said: “We are really enjoying. It is a different land, much different than Rajasthan where we visited recently. The place is very beautiful and inhabited by very nice people”. “Don’t worry, there would be snowfall,” a monk of the Monastery commented.