E-Paper
After HC rap, Dehradun administration puts cap on tourist influx to Mussoorie
Following Uttarakhand high court’s rap, Dehradun district police have decided to limit the number of tourists allowed in the hill town’s popular tourist spots to just 50% of the total capacity, HT has learnt
Following Uttarakhand high court’s rap, Dehradun district police have decided to limit the number of tourists allowed in the hill town’s popular tourist spots to just 50% of the total capacity, HT has learnt.
The decision was taken in a meeting held by senior superintendent of police, Dehradun, Yogendra Singh Rawat with other police officers of the district on Friday under which he gave many directions including the above mentioned one to ensure the strict implementation of Covid-19 precautions during weekends.
Nanital district administration has banned the entry of the two-wheelers on weekends to reduce traffic congestion and limit the number of people coming to the hill station.
On Wednesday, while expressing serious concern over thousands of tourists inundating hill stations of the state without following Covid-19 norms, the HC directed the state government to review its decision to relax the lockdown during the weekends, saying “the tourists may bring in and introduce the dreaded Delta plus variant in the state”.
The HC also directed the state government to take concrete steps to control the inflow of tourists in the state. “The steps, so taken by the state, should be informed to the public at large so that the potential tourists are informed about the steps being taken by the state,” it said.
Informing about the measures to be taken in Mussoorie and other tourists places near Dehradun including Sahastradhara on weekends, Rawat said, “During weekends the tourists coming from outside the state to Mussoorie would have to produce negative RT-PCR report with mandatory registration on government portal and documents of their hotel booking at Kuthal Gate check post. Only those having these documents would be allowed.”
“Also, only 50% of the tourists of the total capacity in the popular tourist spots of Mussoorie including Company Garden, Mall Road and others would be allowed on weekends,” said Rawat.
He also said that the police would also stress awareness programmes in the hill town to make the people aware of following the Covid-19 precautions.
“Under this, we would hold a meeting with the office-bearers of Mussoorie Hotel Association and ask them to make the tourists aware of the precautions at the time of booking. We would also run Covid-19 awareness messages on the public address system in Mussoorie to ensure that tourists follow Covid-19 appropriate behaviour,” said Rawat.
The senior police officer also said that the local police would also put a barrier near another popular tourist spot of Sahastradhara near Dehradun on weekends to control the crowd.
Meanwhile, the Nanital district administration had banned the entry of the two-wheelers on weekends to reduce the traffic congestion.
“Nainital is witnessing a heavy footfall of tourists after relaxation in Covid curfew. Tourists, as well locals, struggle the whole weekend with traffic congestion and face road jams. Two-wheelers entry has been banned only on Saturday and Sunday to reduce the congestion of the traffic in the hill station,” said Dheeraj Singh Garbyal, district magistrate, Nainital on Tuesday.
As per the decision taken by the district administration, two-wheelers of the tourists will be parked at Rusi and Narayan Nagar bypass parking spots on Haldwani road while two-wheelers coming from Bhowali will be stopped near cantonment area. Only two-wheelers of the locals will be allowed to enter Nainital but they will have to show an Aadhaar card or other documents.
Tourists coming by two-wheelers will be provided shuttle service from the parking spot to Nainital the whole day. Four-wheelers will get entry and be parked on identified parking points as fixed by the administration, earlier.
Nainital, like other hill stations, has been witnessing tourists travelling by two-wheelers in recent days. Locals of US Nagar, Rampur, Moradabad and Bareilly prefer to travel by the two-wheelers since they are considered cheap and can pass through the traffic congestion. Two-wheelers cause traffic congestion and problems to the police in maintaining the traffic system. On Sunday, it took four hours to cover half a kilometre on Haldwani road.
