Tourists throng Shimla on Xmas eve
Sameer Singh
Shimla, December 24
As inflow of tourists to the capital city has increased significantly ahead of Christmas and New Year celebrations, long queues of vehicles were seen at the entry point of Shimla on Sunday. The occupancy of hotels in Shimla this weekend was approximately 85 per cent. As per the police, more than 1.45 lakh vehicles have entered/exited in past 10 days in Shimla.
Hotel industry rejoices
Although losses suffered due to the rain disaster cannot be recovered, we are hopeful that the business will revive as the ccupancy in hotels of the capital city has reached up to 85 per cent. The year-end festivities have provided the much-needed oxygen to the hotel industry. Mohinder Seth, President, Shimla Hoteliers ASSN
Dry weather likely till December 29, says met dept
- Light snowfall has been recorded in the higher reaches of Lahaul and Spiti since Saturday evening
- Places that saw a mild snowfall include Keylong (2cm), Gondla (2cm), Kumukseri and Koksar
- Despite the light precipitation, there’s no significant change in average maximum and minimum temperatures
- The lowest temperature was recorded at Sumdho at -1.8°C and the highest was recorded at Dhaulakuan at 23.3°C
- Even as a large number of tourists have rushed to the hills in the hope of celebrating white Christmas, they are likely to be disappointed as the weather department has predicted dry weather till December 29 and there are chances of light rainfall/snowfall at isolated places on December 29 and 30
To manage the traffic movement, the district police have been halting vehicles near Shoghi (coming from Solan side to Shimla) for few minutes and then releasing them. Although, queues of vehicles were long at the entry point (as part of traffic management and checking), there was barely any traffic jam in the city. Considering the increased inflow of tourists around this time of the year, the police have managed to streamline and regulate traffic well.
As per the police record, as many as 68,564 vehicles entered the city and 38,586 exited between December 15 and December 21. On the weekend between December 23 (8 am) and December 24 (8 am), approximately 18,760 vehicles entered and exited the capital city.
Shimla SP Sanjeev Gandhi said: “We have been managing traffic movement in and out of the city in a regulated manner. It’s based on mathematical calculations. Considering the increased number of tourist vehicles entering Shimla for Christmas and New Year celebrations, we are halting vehicles for some time near Shoghi barrier and then releasing them in a regulated manner so that we do not end up choking the city.”
“If vehicles were not halted for some time, then there would be absolute chaos on the city roads. ‘One Minute Traffic Plan’ (halt and release vehicles) is based on the principle linear equation,” added Gandhi.
Shimla city has limited capacity to carry vehicular flow. The city has its own vehicle load of 60,000 vehicles, public transport has more than 1350 routes, approximately 65,000 students from KG to PhD level commute on the roads, all major health facilities also situated in the capital city and all main offices of almost all departments are also located in the capital.
Meanwhile, tourists stuck in long queues near Shoghi have given mixed reactions while some of them said it’s been more than an hour that they were stuck in the traffic jam others said that since it’s the year-end and number of tourists from all across the country throng Shimla and tourist destinations beyond it, waiting in traffic jams for half an hour is normal. As tourists are thronging the capital city on Christmas eve and ahead of New Year, the tourism industry which was hit hard by rain-induced disaster this monsoon season is quite upbeat now.
