Covid-19 cases decline, weekend tourists' traffic for Shimla swells up

Shimla: With pandemic registering a notable decline and restrictions having been eased, it's "Shimla Chalo" once again for the weekend tourists trying to escape the heat in Chandigarh and neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana.

The state government has waived off mandatory RT-PCR test reports and markets have been allowed to function till 5 pm.

Sunday traffic from Chandigarh broke all previous records of three months as Parwanoo–the main entry point to Shimla, state's capital, witnessed a long queue of vehicles driving up to the hills.

"It's really unprecedented as one can see an aerial view of vehicles lined up on the Himalayan Express between Pinjore crossing to Parwanoo state barrier," said a police head constable posted at Parwanoo.

As some people are just coming to breathe fresh air in the hills after a long spell of Covid, others are keen for a weekend drive to Kasauli, Chail and Shimla, and their return home.

Though the state government has not yet lifted the condition of registering on the Entry e-portal, the waiving off RTPCR condition has given an opportunity to the locked-up people in UT, Haryana and Punjab to come out of their houses for a Himalayan trip.

Reports said around 5,000 tourists vehicles and private cars having registered numbers with Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, apart from some percentage with Delhi numbers entered at Parwanoo on Saturday and Sunday.

The government staff posted at Parwanoo barrier had a tough time in handling the increased influx of the vehicles. Later additional staff were rushed to manage an overcrowded barrier as a lot of tourists were heard shouting at the staff for delays and hold-ups.

Director General of police Sanjay Kundu confirmed that the rush was not unexpected following the lifting up of the conditions on entry of the tourists. The facility has now been regulated as the rush was definitely sudden for the weekend trips.

Congress state president Kuldeep Rathore has objected to the state government's decision to remove the RTPCR test condition alleging that this will be an invitation to infection as all kinds of people, including those with symptoms, will make a free 'in and out' travels.

The hotel industry, however, feels that arrivals will help them to revive the business already hit by the Covid lockdown.

Meanwhile, the state on Sunday witnessed a sharp decline in the number of cases and deaths. Total number of deaths reported on Sunday were seven of which five were in Kangra, one each in Hamirpur and Mandi. There were only 237 new cases while 855 got cured also.