Tourist rush due to heatwave, summer holidays choking hills of Nainital

The Hindu

11-06-2025

Heat wave sweeping across north India and children's summer holidays are driving a large number of people from Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Haryana to Nainital, leaving the lake city of Uttarakhand choked with traffic. To control the situation, the police are primarily allowing those to enter town who have prior hotel bookings while people are being sensitised to avoid taking cars to the hills and use shuttle available from parking spots.
The tourist rush last weekend forced the Nainital police to make an announcement about the town reaching its capacity, and asking people to go back home, a video of which is making rounds on social media.
'Nainital is full sir, please go back home,' a policeman was seen announcing at a parking spot at Naraiyan Nagar.
The residents say they were unable to venture out during the weekend, which was clubbed with the Id holiday which made large number of tourists visiting the town.
'It took me 2.5 hours to reach Tallital from mall road, which is not even 2 km distance,' said Kartikeya Hari Gupta, an advocate who practises at Uttarakhand (Nainital) High Court.
Hoteliers say the problem is not tourists, but their vehicles.
'Traffic choking Nainital is a story that repeats itself every year, still, the administration and the government hardly take any lessons. Worst is that the government has started advertising Kainchi Dhaam as a big religious pilgrimage in Nainital, which is already flooded with tourists due to its lakes and picturesque hills. That has added to the traffic woes as one has to wait for at least 2-3 hours in parking or in traffic due to temple rush,' said Praveen Sharma, member of the Uttarakhand hotel association.
He added that vehicular rush can be avoided in town if government runs buses or tempo travellers from Haldwani and nearby areas but all planning happens only on papers.
In the absence of public transport, tourists say they are left with no other option.
'I tried to book a Volvo from Haldwani to Nainital, but only a couple were available, that too in the night, while the train was taking me to Haldwani in the afternoon. Taxis charged heavily, and hence, cars are the only option left,' said Kanchan Singh, a teacher who travelled to Nainital from Noida.
Local media also reported about two deaths, allegedly took place due to traffic bottlenecks, making their vehicles stuck in jam for hours.
Jagdish Chandra, Superintendent of Police, Traffic, Nainital, refuted the claims of deaths taking place due to vehicles getting stuck in traffic but added that traffic situation is bad in the town due to tourist rush.
'It is also not totally true that we are not letting those to Nainital who don't have prior hotel bookings. The thing is that we have very limited space of parking. So, priority is being given to those who have bookings. Then we allow cars to go to town until parking is available. After that, we ask tourists to take shuttles and park on the outskirts,' he added.
He said traffic police had been deployed at all prominent spots to manage vehicular rush and personnel were sensitised to ensure that no ambulance or vehicle carrying patient got stuck in traffic.