As HP restricts entry, tourists flood Morni, throw caution to wind
PANCHKULA: With Himachal Pradesh restricting the entry of tourists, Morni – the hill station of Panchkula – has become the new haunt for holidaymakers. The hill station, which is just five hours away from Delhi and 45 kilometres from Chandigarh, has seen a fourfold increase in footfall in the last few weeks.
What’s more worrying is that the visitors are often seen roaming without masks and violating social distancing norms, putting themselves and others at risk for infection. During weekends, the roads leading to Morni remain abuzz with cars from Delhi, Punjab, Chandigarh, Haryana and even Uttarakhand. Youngsters speeding on twowheelers without helmets or masks are a common sight.
In view of the rush, police had barricaded the entry points to the hill station. A cop deputed at the Mandhna T-point said: “By noon, at least 50 vehicles cross this T-point everyday. This is because Himachal Pradesh has made the process for tourists to enter their state very cumbersome .”
The Tikkar Tal Lake, which is a major attraction, sees a huge rush on weekends.
Kishan Pal Joshi, the security guard at the parking, said: “Earlier, we got around 20 to 30 visitors on weekdays and 50 to 60 more on weekends. But now, we have at least 150 to 200 cars parked here everyday and on weekends, the rush increases by 400-500 cars.”
When this correspondent visited the spot, groups of young men were seen drinking alcohol and dancing to loud music, undeterred by the police presence a few metres away. Some others were seen sitting in close proximity to each other, taking selfies and enjoying their meal and drinks.
One such visitor was Gundeep Singh, who had come from Ludhiana with his friends. None of them were wearing masks. When asked, he said: “We can’t go to Himachal, so we planned a one-day trip to Morni. We will leave by evening.”
When contacted, Panchkula civil surgeon Dr Jasjeet Kaur said, “We will be soon picking up samples from tourist spots.”