Nainital traffic woes: Uttarakhand high court seeks IIM Kashipur’s help

Uttarakhand high court on Thursday heard over half a dozen petitions related to environmental issues, traffic congestion, parking, and the carrying capacity of Nainital’s roads

Published on: Apr 18, 2025, 09:37:13 IST

By Neeraj Santoshi

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Limited parking spaces and an increase in tourist inflow have made traffic jams a major concern in Nainital, one of Uttarakhand’s most popular destinations, prompting the Uttarakhand high court to seek the help of experts from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kashipur for a long-term solution.

Uttarakhand high court sought expert help for Nainital’s traffic woes. (HT PHOTO)

A bench of Chief Justice G Narender and Justice Alok Mahra on Thursday directed IIM Kashipur to study the load-bearing capacity of Nainital’s roads and submit a detailed report. It asked the institute to inform it by Monday whether the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, the Indian Road Congress, the Central Road Research Institute, and the Geological Survey of India could help it.

The bench sought an update from the state government on the proposed construction of a parking facility on 45 acres of land of a defunct factory in Ranibagh and a shuttle service for tourists to limit the vehicles entering Nainital.

The bench reviewed the ongoing multi-storey parking project for 90 vehicles at the site of the old Ashok Talkies in Nanital with a budget of ₹5.25 crore.

Advocate DS Patni, who represented the Nanital municipality, questioned the project and termed it a misuse of public funds. The state government maintained that the land belongs to the government. The court noted the concerns and issued verbal instructions to temporarily halt the project.

The court, which will take up the matter again on Monday, was hearing over half a dozen petitions related to environmental issues, traffic congestion, parking, and the carrying capacity of Nainital’s roads.

Lawyer Karthik Jayshankar, who represented environmentalist Ajay Singh Rawat in one of the petitions, said IIM Kashipur director Somnath Chakrabarti and a team of experts appeared virtually before the court on Thursday. They informed the court that IIM experts visited key locations and presented preliminary suggestions regarding parking infrastructure, traffic diversions, and a shuttle service to ease congestion.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeraj Santoshi
Neeraj Santoshi is the Chief of Bureau for Hindustan Times in Uttarakhand, where he leads the state reporting team while covering government, politics, environment, wildlife, Uttarakhand High Court, and issues shaping the Himalayan region. With more than two decades in journalism across conflict zones, he has covered politically sensitive regions and environmentally fragile landscapes, and focused on stories that combine public interest with in-depth storytelling. An alumnus of Pune University with a Master’s in Communication Studies, he has reported extensively from Jammu & Kashmir (2003-2010), Madhya Pradesh (2010 to 2018 ) and Uttarakhand (Since 2018), covering subjects ranging from insurgency, elections and governance to wildlife conservation, mining, climate change, agriculture, human rights and social justice. He has covered politics and legislative assemblies of both Jammu & Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh over more than a decade. Before taking over as Chief of Bureau in Uttarakhand, he served as Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times in Madhya Pradesh and earlier reported for both Hindustan Times and The Indian Express in Jammu & Kashmir, where he covered state politics, environment and insurgency-related developments. Over the years, his stories have focused on environmental degradation, wildlife, illegal mining, governance and the changing social fabric of Himalayan states and Central India. He is particularly interested in long-form explanatory journalism, and stories that explore the intersection of ecology, conservation, governance and society. Outside the newsroom, Neeraj enjoys reading widely on neuroscience, consciousness studies, Artificial Intelligence and quantum physics, with a special interest in Kashmiri Tantric Shaivist traditions. He is also passionate about wildlife, mountaineering and the Himalayas, interests that continue to inform his reporting and deepen his understanding of the region he covers.Read More

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