DEHRADUN: Mussoorie saw a heavy tourist rush on Saturday as a pile up of vehicles, several kilometres long, was seen on the Dehradun-Mussoorie Road.
Dehradun district magistrate Ashish Srivastava had issued orders on Friday that tourists will be allowed in Mussoorie only if they have an RT-PCR-negative report, a prior hotel booking and proof of registration on the smart city portal.
Police officials said they were checking the tourists’ details at the check posts and this led to vehicles being stopped, and many tourists who did not have relevant documents sent back.
"There was a long queue of vehicles at the checkpoint after crossing Dehradun [Kuthal Gate] and we had to wait for nearly 30 minutes before we could proceed further. Subsequently, traffic snarls were observed till Mussoorie," lamented Rahul Ranjan, a tourist.
Harshvardhan Singh, a tourist coming from Gurgaon, said, “We came to know about the revised SOP to enter Mussoorie on Saturday morning. Since we had registration on the smart city website and RT-PCR negative report along with hotel reservation, we were confident. But, the long queue made people wait for too long.”
Meanwhile, Sanjay Agarwal, secretary, Mussoorie Hotels' Association, said, “The orders from Dehradun have come as a huge relief as the traffic is being strictly monitored. The shops close down by 7 pm and restaurants by 10 pm.”
