Munish Sood
MANDI/PARWANOO: As the plains heat up and school holidays begin, tourists are rushing to the cool climes of Himachal’s hills. However, their weekend getaway turned into a nightmare on Saturday as thousands found themselves stuck for hours in massive traffic jams across entry points in Solan district’s Parwanoo and key tourist routes in Shimla and Kullu district.
A particularly severe jam occurred at Parwanoo barrier in Solan en route to Shimla and the Bhuntar-Manikaran road, where vehicles crawled for over three hours, forming queues stretching over three to four km. The jam left not only tourists but also local commuters frustrated and stranded.
Among those stuck was Daljeet Singh from Ludhiana, who is travelling with five family members. “We have been stuck on this road for over four hours now, and there’s no sign of traffic movement. There are no police personnel to manage the situation either,” he said in Kullu.
Other tourists like Kamarth Shah from Pune, Sheetal Dass from Meerut, Neha Khullar from Dehradun and Priyam Sharma from Delhi shared similar concerns, expressing deep disappointment at the lack of basic facilities and crowd management in the area.
They pointed out that narrow roads and broken patches are causing bottlenecks, especially when vehicles from the opposite direction try to pass. With no traffic regulation or proper deployment of police on the ground, the situation has spiraled out of control.
The Solan and Kullu administration are facing sharp criticism for their failure to prepare for the predictable tourist influx during weekends. Despite knowing that Shimla, Chail, Kufri, Parvati Valley, Jibhi, Banjar, Tirthan Valley, Manikaran and Manali attract large crowds this season, no adequate traffic management or police deployment has been arranged.
Hotelier Panki Sood from Tirthan Valley remarked, “Every year, we request the administration to increase police deployment during peak tourist season, but nothing changes. Tourists return frustrated, which affects our business and the reputation of Himachal.”
Another hotel owner, Rajat, criticised the government for its inaction. “The roads in this region have been in a pathetic state for years. If the Chief Minister travelled by road instead of helicopter, perhaps he would understand the severity of the problem.”
Not just Bhuntar-Manikaran, but areas like Jibhi, Banjar and Tirthan are witnessing similar traffic gridlocks. Yet, the administration remains silent.
As per Rajendra Prakash, president of Sojha Tourism Association, the number of tourists visiting the region has doubled compared to last weekend. “Advance bookings are coming in for the entire month of June, but if this is how the administration handles tourism, we fear many may cancel their plans,” he warned.
Despite the boom in tourist arrivals this month, the lack of preparedness and infrastructure threatens to turn Kullu’s image from a paradise into a pressure cooker.
