Tuesday, 28 June 2022 | PNS | NAINITAL
The peak of summer may be past and the monsoon just a few days away but the tourist footfall in Nainital is continuing even past the weekend. Generally, the tourists leave the lake city on the weekend but as seen on some occasions in the past, the number of visitors remained high here even on Monday. Hill stations like Nainital attract large number of tourists when the residents of the plains arrive here to seek relief from the scorching heat during the summer. However, now that temperatures have started to drop slightly with the advent of rain or at least cloudy skies in various parts, the number of tourists here has not dwindled. Even on Monday, most of the hotels in Nainital were fully booked with little space even for vehicles in the parking lots. The crowding caused inconvenience to both local residents and tourists who couldn’t find room for themselves and their vehicles. Those involved in businesses connected to tourism made brisk profits even as the city suffered from traffic congestion due to the high number of visitors. As seen on the weekend, the traffic congestion was so bad that it was difficult event for pedestrians to find space to walk on some of the roads in the city. Due to lack of accommodation in Nainital, many tourists went ahead to Bhawali, Bhimtal, Ranikhet, Mukteshwar, Ramgarh and Naukuchiyatal. The authorities stopped vehicles of tourists without advance booking in hotels in Rusi bypass, Narayannagar and Bhawali Road and sent them to Nainital by shuttle service. However, this did not help prevent traffic congestion and the resulting travails in the city. There was considerable rain in Nainital during the morning after which the city experienced pleasant weather later in the day after the rain ceased. The maximum and minimum temperatures here were 23 degrees Celsius and 16 degrees Celsius respectively on Monday.
