Tourists suffer in jam-packed McLeodganj
Dharamshala and Mcleodganj, favourite among tourists, witnessed a heavy rush this weekend as people from plains throng the hills to get relief from scorching heat.
However, the heavy influx resulted in chaos as traffic jams clogged the twin-towns on Saturday and Sunday, while hotels were full to the capacity.
Several tourists, who had not done advance bookings, were seen searching for rooms. Such a scenario left a window open for hotel owners to hike the tariff.
Sources here revealed that hotel owners were charging hefty amount for the simple rooms which merely cost ₹1,000 during off-season.
Rajinder Kaur, a resident of Delhi, who arrived here on Saturday along with her family said a hotel owner demanded ₹5,000 for an average room.
“They are just trying to fleece us seeing that we are out of options,” rued Vikas from Mahendragarh in Haryana.
President of Hoteliers’ Association Ashwani Bamba said that rush is likely to remain till July 5. Almost all the hotels, he said, have been booked in advance for next fortnight.
“Even the guest houses are full to capacity and tourists are headed to the countryside destinations,” he added.
Meanwhile, district authorities have made heavy police deployment to manage the traffic and handle the law and order situation in both the towns.
A traffic police official said that an estimated 5,000 tourist vehicles entered Dharamshala on Saturday alone.
Similar situation was witnessed in the famous tourist resorts of Dalhousie in Chamba district.
A TRAFFIC POLICE OFFICIAL SAID AN ESTIMATED 5,000 TOURIST VEHICLES ARRIVED IN DHARAMSHALA ON SATURDAY ALONE