Heat wave: Delhi-NCR travellers choke hill stations. Beware of weekend rush!

To escape the heat, Delhiites rushed to the hills only to face bumper-to-bumper traffic. Travellers share woes, hotels and agents decode the cause of chaos.

With temperatures in Delhi soaring past 40°C over the weekend, the usual hill station escape turned into a nightmare for many. As city dwellers rushed to the cooler climes of Mussoorie, Rishikesh and other hill towns, massive traffic snarls brought travel to a standstill — quite literally.

Some visuals of immense traffic jams witnessed at different hill stations across Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand over last weekend. (Photo: Instagram)

Tragically, the gridlock in Mussoorie claimed a life. A 62-year-old Delhi resident, stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic, couldn’t get timely medical help and passed away.

“It was nothing short of a nightmare,” says Gurugram-based IT professional Kunal Bajaj, who got stuck on a two-kilometre stretch for nearly four hours with his elderly parents. “Watching them suffer in the heat, helpless inside the car… I deeply regret suggesting this trip.”

While jammed hill roads aren’t new during school holidays, this time, the crowd was unusually intense. Tour operator Sarvjeet Sankrit explains, “Many people had postponed their trips earlier this year due to the tense situation at the LOC. That entire wave is now hitting the hill stations all at once.”

Geetika Prakash, a homemaker from Amar Colony, who was travelling to Rishikesh, echoes the frustration: “We spent more time crawling in traffic than actually relaxing. It felt like we walked into a trap.”

Hotel bookings have also skyrocketed. “We’ve been fully booked every weekend,” shares Praveen Dhami, reservations manager at a Mussoorie hotel, adding, “A large chunk of our guests are from Delhi-NCR, but we’re also seeing a lot of tourists from southern India. The demand is overwhelming.”

The excitement fizzled out the moment we entered the hilly city. It felt like we had walked into a trap! Out of the three days we had almost one and a half was spent in just making our way through traffic. Geetika Prakash, Homemaker

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I was travelling to Mussoorie with my elderly parents, and was in a stationary car for almost four hours on a two kilometer stretch. It turned out to be such an uncomfortable and distressing experience. Kunal Bajaj, IT professional

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Iss baar April-May mein the situation at the LOC got pretty serious, which led to most of the people to postponing their plans. All that rush is now heading to the hills stations. Sarvjeet Sankrit, Travel operator based in Rajendra Place

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A majority of the bookings are being done by tourists from Delhi-NCR due to the close proximity. Praveen Dhami, Reservation manager at a hotel in Mussoorie

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