ഗാന്ധി ജയന്തി അവധി: മണാലിയിലും മുസ്സൂറിയിലും കനത്ത തിരക്ക്; വിനോദസഞ്ചാര കേന്ദ്രങ്ങളിൽ ഗതാഗതക്കുരുക്ക്

The three-day extended Gandhi Jayanti weekend led to a massive influx of tourists and pilgrims travelling to Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, resulting in major traffic jams on several key routes, Manali, Mussoorie and Shimla, and pilgrimage sites like Badrinath Dham and Kainchi Dham.

The rush began ahead of the long weekend, with a government holiday on October 2, followed by Saturday and Sunday, giving travellers three consecutive days off.

Several areas of New Delhi also witnessed traffic congestion on Thursday, ahead of the long weekend. Mandi House, Kashmere Gate, Akshardham and Pragati Maidan were reportedly among the worst-affected areas, with a noticeable increase in the number of commuters and travellers.

Key tourist areas hit by traffic in Himachal

Mussoorie witnessed a major influx of tourists on Friday, leading to long queues of vehicles along the Mussoorie-Dehradun Road. Thousands of vehicles arrived from Delhi-NCR, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, HT reported earlier.

Hotel occupancy in Mussoorie stood at around 90%, while traffic moved slowly near Library Bazaar and along the route towards Kempty Fall.

Manali also saw a large number of tourists arriving during the long weekend, leading to traffic congestion across the area, visuals shared by news agency ANI showed.

Meanwhile, several kilometres of traffic were reported on the Kalka-Shimla highway, where vehicles remained stuck for hours and moved at a slow pace, India Today reported. A journey that usually takes around three-and-a-half to four hours was taking several extra hours due to the rise in traffic.

Tourist rush clogs pilgrimage sites in Uttarakhand

In Uttarakhand, heavy congestion was reported on roads leading to Badrinath Dham and Hemkund Sahib as more pilgrims travelled through the region. A traffic jam stretching for seven kilometres was reported between Joshimath and Marwari, with long queues of vehicles, as per India Today.

Nainital's Kainchi Dham, the shrine of Baba Neem Karoli, also witnessed a large influx of tourists. The rush was driven by the long weekend and the recent release of the film 'Hanuman Ansh’, visuals shared on social media showed.

Traffic congestion was also reported on the Bhimtal-Haldwani road, according to videos shared online. HT.com could not independently verify the authenticity of the visuals.

Rudraprayag Police shared visuals of the heavy influx of tourists on its X account and said that the number of pilgrims visiting Kedarnath Dham had risen sharply due to the weekend. It added that pilgrims were standing in queues and moving ahead to avail of the shuttle service.

“This morning, devotees are queuing up to have darshan of Baba Kedar at Kedarnath Dham…Due to the weekend, the continuous arrival of pilgrims on the Char Dham Yatra continues. All devotees are requested to have darshan in queues and follow the guidelines issued by the administration/police,” its latest statement on X read.

Uttarkashi Police said in its latest statement on X that the pilgrimage to Gangotri and Yamunotri Dham was proceeding smoothly. It added that the pilgrimage routes remain open and traffic was moving without any disruption.