Shimla braces for traffic tantrums on new year's eve, 2.50 lakh cars expected

If you are planning to head out to Shimla to celebrate on new year's eve, don't. Chances are that the traffic situation in and around the capital of Himachal Pradesh may go for an absolute toss as authorities here are bracing for a massive rush around the December 30 and December 31 weekend.

Shimla Police officials have informed that while 1.60 lakh vehicles have come into Shimla from elsewhere in the past 10 days, another 2.50 vehicles may arrive by the time the last weekend of the year begins. Authorities are clearly under a lot of pressure to ensure that the inflow of vehicles from outside of Shimla do not cause major traffic movement-related problems here.

While the arrival of tourists obviously benefits the local state economy, the sheer scale of the rush in recent days has been overwhelming. Tourist vehicles as well as vehicles of local residents have been jostling for every inch of precious space since the Christmas weekend began. “In the capital city of Shimla, during the past 10 to 11 days, we have recorded 1,60,000 vehicle movements through the Shoghi Barrier. We have nearly 3 lakh locals, and we are also welcoming tourists," said Shimla Superintendent of Police, Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi. “On the pattern of Christmas and winter carnivals, we will manage the same for December 31st. We had nearly 1.5 lakh tourists on Christmas and we are expecting 80,000 to one lakh people and nearly 2,50,000 vehicles on year-end."

Gandhi also outlined the preparations that have been made to manage the rush. “We have made arrangements at the main tourist points in Shimla, the Ridge, Kufri, Narkanda and other places. We have CCTV and drone monitoring for both traffic conjunction and also the human movements," he explained. “We are trying to ensure security, safety and traffic arrangements, and we are guiding the tourists also. We have planned a one-minute traffic plan as per our potential and the results are positive and on the internal road we have allowed free movement."

Shimla is one of the major tourist destinations in Himachal Pradesh with tourists from other states flocking in with hopes of watching snowfall. Manali too is a hot favouritie in the cold months but both of these tourist hubs have been under massive pressure in recent times due to thousands of vehicles coming in and lakhs of tourists jostling with each other to have a good time.

How to reach Shimla?

Delhi to Shimla by road:

Shimla is located around 340 kilometres from the national capital of Delhi. The entire distance can be covered in around seven hours with the highway passing through the outskirts of Panipat, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Ambala and Chandigarh before passing through Kalka. There are plenty of eating joints all along this route.

There are also plenty of options for buses from Delhi's ISBT and Majnu ka Tila. Ticket prices range between ₹500 and ₹1,500, depending on the bus selected. Delhi to Shimla by bus takes around 10 hours.

Delhi to Shimla by train:

There are nearly a dozen trains that run between Delhi and Kalka, the nearest rail point to Shimla. All of these trains run at various times of the day. The typical duration of a Delhi-Kalka train journey is around four hours. From Kalka, one can take a local cab to Shimla or take the scenic toy train. The toy train, however, will take another five hours to reach Shimla.

Delhi to Shimla by air:

The quickest but most expensive option to reach Shimla is by taking a flight to the airport in Jubbarhatti which is around 22 kilometres from the city. There are also limited number of flight options.

(With inputs from ANI)