Tourists dash to Shimla as plains sizzle; 70K vehicles reach city in 72 hours

Tourist inflow to Himachal Pradesh has surged sharply as people escape intense heat in the plains, with Shimla witnessing massive traffic pressure after 6,31,000 vehicles entered the hill town in the last 24 days, officials said.

The situation has worsened in the past 72 hours alone, with around 70,000 vehicles reaching the city, turning the “Queen of Hills” into a traffic bottleneck even before the peak summer season begins.

According to police data, about 3,70,000 vehicles entered Shimla from the Chandigarh-Kalka route, while the rest arrived via Kinnaur, Bilaspur and Kullu corridors.

Additional superintendent of police Abhishek said the sudden spike in tourist arrivals has intensified Shimla’s long-standing parking and congestion problems.

“In response to the ever-increasing vehicular pressure, special arrangements have been made across the city. Shimla has been divided into five zones and the responsibility to manage traffic has been entrusted to a gazetted officer in each,” he said.

He added that volunteers are being deployed to assist traffic management, while vehicles are being diverted through alternative routes to reduce congestion. “Vehicles heading to Upper Shimla are being routed via the Shoghi-Mehli stretch,” he said.

Over the past week, 1,54,450 vehicles entered the hill station, further straining road infrastructure and slowing movement across key tourist routes.

Officials said additional police deployment is expected after May 31, once the ongoing panchayat elections conclude, as tourist inflow is projected to rise further in June.

Typically, Himachal’s peak tourist season begins in early June, but this year’s heatwave-like conditions across northern and western India — including Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra — have triggered an early rush to hill destinations.

With PTI inputs