Proposed hike in Mall Road entry fee will ‘hurt tourism’

Tribune News Service

Mussoorie, July 1

The proposal of the Municipal Council (MC) to raise the Mall Road entry fee for tourist vehicles from Rs 150 to Rs 500 has not gone well with tourists and Mussoorie residents.

The motive behind the decision was that it would deter people from taking their vehicles on the Mall Road but many feel that the step is anti-people and anti-tourist and amounts to fleecing.

Tourists, who frequently visit Mussoorie, say the town is already facing an artificial inflation in terms of hotel room and other charges and the hike in the Mall Road entry fee would also deter tourists from coming to Mussoorie.

Balwinder Singh, a tourist from Ludhiana, says that they are staying at a hotel on the Mall Road and will have to drive on the road several times. In case of elderly people who cannot walk to hotels, they have to be driven right up to the hotels. To increase the entry fee to deter tourists is preposterous, he adds.

President of the Uttarakhand Hotel and Restaurant Association Sandeep Sahni says it is a ridiculous proposal and will deter tourists from coming to Mussoorie. Already tourists have to pay many charges while moving in and around Mussoorie and the fresh fee hike will spell a death knell to the already dimly tourism in the hill town.

MC ward member Anuj Gupta, who is opposing the proposal, said the civic body had increased the entry fee only to benefit some vested interests. He alleged that there was a plan to give contracts of the two barriers to the near and dear ones of MC president Manmohan Singh Mall.

Gupta said he would contest the decision tooth and nail till it is revoked. Meanwhile, another MC ward member Sashi Rawat, who supported the proposal, said suggestions from people would be sought before implementing it. Meanwhile, Manmohan Mall has refuted all charges and said the proposal was cleared with an overwhelming majority at the council meeting.