PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Nainital
As the tourist footfalls are surging with the tourist season peaking in the lake city, police have enforced a route diversion plan, landing the tourists in a road ordeal. Defending the move, police said that it is meant to manage the increasing traffic pressure. The tourists, however, said that the plan is wasting their time. “Our vehicles are being stopped at various places before we enter the city. We are being made to stay stuck in our cars for a long time,” said a tourist who looked disturbed.
Things were so bad on the roads that the tourists said that they would advise others planning a Nainital trip to avoid this place for the time being. They said in unison that if the traffic system does not improve, tourists might be drawn to other tourist destinations where things are not as chaotic as in Nainital.
Recounting his experiences, a tourist Naveed Qureshi, who came with his family from Rampur, said that police had stopped his vehicle when they were heading towards Nainital from Bhowali. “We had to take a detour of 30 km and eventually reached the Rusi bypass. But we were not allowed to proceed towards Nainital. We showed them our hotel registration slip; still they did not allow us. So we had to return,” he said.
There are other problems, too, which the tourists face. A tourist from Lucknow, Nitin said that the biggest problem at the Rusi Bypass was the absence of clean toilets. “The ones we found were dirty and stinking,” he said.
He further complained about the lack of cooperation from the police. “As we reached Rusi Bypass, the police told us that hotel booking is necessary. We tried to book rooms in hotels, but taking advantage of our helplessness, the hoteliers hiked their rates. This is totally unacceptable,” he added.
Another one from Agra, Suraj Kumar told the same tale of harassment. “We had no hotel booking and so we were not allowed to get in,” he said in a despairing tone, adding that no one should plan to come here before booking a hotel room.
Speaking of the matter, the president of the Nainital Hotel and Restaurant Association, Digvijay Singh Bisht said that stopping tourists’ cars midway is not appropriate. “Vehicles are being stopped, although many parking lots in Nainital are lying vacant. The police should stop vehicles only after updating the parking space availability. If the parking is 70 per cent full, only then vehicles should be stopped and then those with hotel bookings should be allowed to enter the city,” he said.
He further said that police strictness seems strange. “The number of tourists this year is much less as compared to previous years,” he added.
