Harrowing time for tourists stuck in Billing

Ravinder Sood

Palampur, January 15

Hundreds of tourists remained stuck in a traffic jam on the narrow Bir-Billing road for hours on Monday night.

As it was a weekend, there was a huge rush of tourists at Billing, a famous tourists resort and paragliding destination. However, before reaching Billing over 500 tourists were caught in a long traffic jam in the forest area.

Despite the fact that the state government has imposed green tax between Rs 30 and Rs 80 on the entry of vehicles to Billing, no adequate arrangements have been made to deal with the heavy rush of tourists. No traffic police personnel were seen at the spot. Vijay Kumar, a tourist from Ludhiana, said he, along with his wife and two kids, was stranded near Billing.“It’s been four hours and we are stuck in the biting cold. Restoration of traffic seems impossible as there are no traffic police personnel. Billing, the world famous tourist spot which hosted the International Paragliding World Championship in October this year, is in a state of neglect. The road leading to the area is in a bad shape.Shortage of drinking water has further aggravated the situation. Hundreds of tourists visit Billing every day. They are forced to carry drinking water with them. The place does not have toilets even.

Apart from this, there are no proper parking facilities. All basic amenities are missing in Billing, which is also a favourite trekking spot. for undreds of foreigners .