Even before the New Year, Mussoorie, the queen of hills, has started panting. The city has become packed due to the large number of tourists. Vehicles kept moving everywhere throughout the day. There is 90 percent booking in hotels and guest houses in Mussoorie. Whereas, there is no space to set foot in many markets including Mall Road. Police personnel are struggling to make traffic arrangements and all the arrangements are proving inadequate.
A large number of tourists have reached Mussoorie for Christmas. While traders are happy with the influx of tourists, common city residents are facing problems. Local citizens have to face traffic jams throughout the day. A large number of tourists started reaching Mussoorie from Sunday morning.
Huge crowd of tourists in the markets
A large number of tourists from Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan as well as other states visited Mussoorie to celebrate Christmas. The traffic system came to a standstill due to the sudden crowd. From 9 am till late night, there was a huge crowd of tourists in the markets, especially Library Bazaar, Shaheed Sthal, Kuldi Bazaar and Mall Road. Places like George Everest, Company Garden, Camptiphal, Bhattaphal, Gunhill and Char Dukan etc. remained buzzing with tourists throughout the day.
Multi story parking 90 percent empty
There was movement of tourists in nearby Dhanaulti and Buranshkhanda also. Due to which the traffic on Dehradun-Mussoorie, Mussoorie-Kampti and Mussoorie-Dhanaulti routes slowed to a crawl throughout the day. There was a traffic jam all around the city. Due to the influx of vehicles, Kempty Road from Kincraig-Library Market via Gandhi Chowk till Zero Point was jammed several times from 9 am to 9 pm. In the afternoon, there was a jam of about four km long from Mussoorie towards Doon. The roads remained packed due to lack of proper parking arrangements. The multi-storey parking at Kincrag on the Doon road before Mussoorie is 90 percent empty.
80 to 90 percent occupancy in hotels
Secretary of Mussoorie Hotel Association, Ajay Bhargava said that by Sunday evening, the occupancy in the hotels of the city had reached 80 to 90 percent. Tourists are expected to flock to Mussoorie during the four-day Winterline Carnival starting from December 27 and till New Year’s Eve. President of Uttarakhand Hotel Association, Sandeep Sahni said that there is parking arrangement for about 2000 vehicles including all the hotels in Mussoorie. Apart from this, parking arrangements have also been made by the police and municipality.
