Off to the hills to beat summer heat? Take a U-turn!

The unbearable heat in Delhi-NCR has compelled many to hit the highway in the direction of hill stations. But, some Delhiites share that they were sent back by authorities due to the overcrowding at most of the hill towns, and others share that hotels have cancelled their advance bookings.

With the unbearably high temperature in NCR, residents of the planes are bound to head to the hills. But this summer, it’s not so easy to find a spot at popular hill stations such as Nainital, Shimla, McLeodganj, Kasauli, and Manali among others. While some residents share how they were stopped by certain authorities from entering the towns due to the heavy footfall, others share that their hotels have cancelled their advance bookings.

Hill towns like Manali are witnessing heavy footfall of tourists from Delhi-NCR since the mercury has risen. (For representational purposes only) (Photo: Ajay Kumar/ANI)

A government official from the Nainital district administration tells us on the condition of anonymity: “The hill station has exhausted its limit of accommodating any more people. To avoid mishaps that disturb the balance of Nature, we have had to take this action to control the crowd. Be it any time of the day, if you visit Mall Road, you’d see nothing but thousands of heads. This is why it was necessary to send people back. From our past experience, we know that people would begin to loiter around on the streets in the wee hours of the night, which makes it a challenge for us to keep everyone safe.”

Tourist vehicles got stuck in a traffic jam, due to snowfall in some areas around Baralacha in Lahaul-Spiti, as reported on June 10. (Photo: Ajay Kumar/ANI)

“Be it Shimla, Nainital or any other go-to spot for those living in NCR, everything seems to be jam-packed even enroute the hills... Last Saturday, after waiting for two hours, with my family, while on the way to Nainital, we were asked to go back on the pretext of overcrowding in the hills due to tourists,” shares Aditya Kumar, a software developer from Noida. Adding to this, Harsh Dobriyal, a travel agent from Sarojini Nagar, informs, “On Saturday, one of our buses going to Nainital was stopped at Dehradun and the officials at the check post told us that no more people can be allowed to go up the hill due to sudden overcrowding that has taken place.”

Some tourists made it to their destination yet couldn’t find themselves an accommodation. “We had to check-in a hotel in Shimla, last Friday, when we received a call from the hotel staff informing us that they have cancelled our advance booking because the place was booked to its capacity,” informs Litika Kakkar, an interior designer who lives in Karol Bagh, adding, “By then we were already on our way to Shimla and after being stuck in traffic for five hours, we reached there to take up the matter in person. My husband argued with the hotel manager to let us stay since we had deposited 50% payment in advance, which was not refunded. The staff initially told us that they neither have a room nor can return the money. After two hours, they offered us a room for just one day and at double the cost.”

It’s surely the peak time for hotels to make maximum profits during this time. “We are cancelling some of the advance bookings because of the surge in walk-ins. To make maximum profits, we are first catering to people who have already reached here,” says Sarthak Jain, owner of a hotel at Bhowali-Bhimtal Road in Uttarakhand. And Gopal Aggarwal, a hotel owner in Shimla, adds, “Everyday we are cancelling almost 13 advance bookings because we need to now operate on a first come, first served basis to be able to cater to the high demand... I know that certain tourists have been restrained by representatives of the state authorities while they are on their way to their choice of destination. This is why we wouldn’t want to risk our business and reserve rooms for those who are yet to reach the hotel.”

Author tweets @maisha_scribbles

For more such stories follow Facebook and Twitter