- By Shibra Arshad
- Sun, 08 Jun 2025 09:12 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
A one-hour drive from Dehradun turned into a gruelling three-hour journey due to massive traffic congestion, as hordes of tourists flocked to the hill station of Mussoorie on the weekend. The long traffic caused severe inconvenience to locals and visitors.
In-charge of the Mussoorie police station, Santosh Kunwar said, “Over 6,000 to 7,000 tourist vehicles turn up during weekends, and managing that number with limited parking facilities becomes a challenging task, forcing us to adopt ‘out-of-the-box’ measures like introducing a one-way plan to streamline traffic,” the Hindustan Times reported.
Heavy vehicles, including tempo travellers, have been banned from entering the town and are turned back from Kothal gate to handle the traffic. The traffic heading towards Kempty Fall is diverted from Gajji Bend towards Zero Point to avoid the bottleneck at Library Chowk.
To ease congestion, the district administration has introduced satellite parking facilities at Hathipaon and Kingcraig, located 2-3 km from Mussoorie. Specifically, the Hathipaon road leading to George Everest House has been converted into a sprawling parking lot, capable of accommodating over 900 vehicles.
“Police teams deployed at the spot direct tourists to use shuttle services to Library Chowk and Picture Palace bus and taxi stands, encouraging them to avoid bringing their vehicles onto Mall Road,” Inspector Kunwar said.
The ongoing Dehradun-Mussoorie Ropeway and Mussoorie Tunnel projects are aimed at improving the traffic congestion issue, providing long-term relief in the wake of limited infrastructure, Mussoorie Municipal Board chairperson Meera Saklani said, the report added.
Narrow roads and traffic congestion in key areas like Gandhi Chowk, Motilal Nehru Road, Picture Palace, and the stretch from Kingcraig to Zero Point lead to the traffic issue in the hill station, as per the locals. Library Chowk bears the brunt of traffic congestion in the town as it is a central junction which directs traffic towards Mall Road, Kempty Falls, Company Garden, and the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA).
