Visitors coming for Christmas, New Year celebrations causing traffic jams150 cops to manage tourist rush in Kullu-Manali

Dipender Manta

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Tribune News Service

Mandi, December 20

The police have geared up to maintain law and order during the Christmas and New Year celebrations in Kullu-Manali. Every year, a large number of tourists, including foreigners, throng to Kullu-Manali to celebrate Christmas and New Year.

Kullu Superintendent of Police Gurdev Chand Sharma has requested the higher authorities to provide additional police force to maintain law and order in the district. The SP said over 150 police personnel and Home Guard jawans would be deployed in Kullu-Manali.

After fresh snow in Manali and its nearby places, the tourist footfall has increased considerably these days. A long traffic jam was seen between Manali and Solang valley for hours due to heavy rush of tourist vehicles on Monday.

Hoteliers are expecting more influx of tourists in the coming days. They are worried about better management of traffic in the district because long traffic jams irk tourists, which may impact the tourism industry.

Anup Thakur, president of the Paryatan Vikas Mandal, Kullu-Manali, said, “We are expecting 100 per cent room occupancy during Christmas and New Year eve. Since the fresh snowfall, the room occupancy in hotels of Manali has recorded an 80 per cent increase.”

“The meteorological department has predicted inclement weather from December 23 onwards and we are hopeful that it will be a white Christmas this year. We urge the tourists to visit Kullu-Manali these days because there is sufficient snow available on the ground for their recreation,” he remarked.

Since Covid-19 outbreak in the state, the tourism industry of Kullu-Manali has suffered a lot. Now, it is coming back on the track slowly after the state has witnessed a considerable decline in Covid cases.