Uttarakhand fails locals & tourists- traffic jams and travails welcome visitors, locals suffer more
PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE /Dehradun/Nainital/Jyotirmath
A heavy rush of tourists and devotees caused congestion on the Dehradun-Delhi expressway on the extended weekend- three day holiday- causing major inconvenience to both the tourists and locals in the plains and mountainous areas of the State as the traffic crawled to tourist destinations and pilgrimage centres. Dehradun, Nainital, Chopta, Mussoorie, Kainchi Dham, Rishikesh and other destinations in the Garhwal and Kumaon regions are witnessing a large number of visitors. On the route to Badrinath in Chamoli district, traffic congestion continued on the second consecutive day as multitudes travelled to the destination to pay obeisance to the lord and undertake rituals to their ancestors at Brahma Kapal during the ongoing Pitra Paksha.
The superintendent of police (Traffic Directorate) Shahjehan Jawed Khan said that the opening of the Delhi-Dehradun expressway has increased tourist movement from Delhi and other parts of the region, especially on weekends. She said the Traffic Police are working to keep the roads clean and have made specific routes and traffic plans for areas affected by encroachments and heavy tourist movement. “For traffic management, we have deployed the Tourist Police along with the City Patrol Unit (CPU) and local police personnel. All teams are working together to manage the traffic,” Khan said.
She said specific traffic plans have been prepared for tourist places such as Kainchi Dham, Mussoorie and Rishikesh. “Weekly traffic plans are also issued for the public so that they do not face problems during periods of heavy tourist movement,” she added. The Nainital Traffic Police on Saturday issued a special one-way traffic plan for October 4 in view of the heavy influx of devotees and tourists to Kainchi Dham and Nainital. The NH route from Kathgodam via Nariman Point towards Nainital and Bhimtal will remain completely closed to incoming traffic between 4 PM to 10 PM. Only exit traffic will be allowed during this period.
More than 35,000 vehicles moved towards the hill areas on Friday, according to the Nainital police. Traffic remained slow on roads leading to Nainital, Kainchi Dham, Bhimtal and Bhawali. In Mussoorie on Friday, the 35-kilometre journey from Dehradun took more than five hours due to traffic. Rishikesh also saw a heavy rush due to the start of the post-monsoon phase of the Char Dham Yatra and the start of river rafting activities. Spot bookings for rafting and camping were stopped due to the crowd.
In Nainital, tourists from different parts of the nation and abroad expressed disappointment at the traffic management. Anjali from Delhi said that traffic jams here are making it difficult to reach nearby tourist destinations. Another Delhiite Arjun said that it took about six hours to travel a distance of six kilometers. He cancelled his trip to Kainchi Dham due to the long traffic jams. The hotel rates are higher than normal, he said. Priya from Pune said that she had planned to visit Kainchi Dham, but the traffic jams on the road make it difficult to get there. She said that tourists should enquire about traffic and hotel availability before arriving.
Another issue coming to light is some of the local businesses exploiting the situation with the administration turning a blind eye. Delhiite Mukul Anand complained that upon arriving in Nainital late at night, he encountered significant traffic jams. Despite a prior booking, the hotel did not provide him with a room. He was then shown a room at another hotel that he deemed uninhabitable. According to Anand, he was also refused a refund when he requested it.
