Fresh snowfall in Shimla, Manali and other parts of Himachal Pradesh has drawn thousands of tourists to the state. But instead of relief or celebration, the sudden rush has exposed a complete collapse of traffic management, leaving roads choked for hours and tourists stranded.
From Tara Devi to the Lift in Shimla, vehicles remained stuck in long queues throughout the day. Cars were lined up for several kilometres, barely moving. Wrong overtaking, reckless driving and vehicles parked haphazardly on both sides of narrow roads turned key stretches into bottlenecks. There was almost no visible regulation by traffic police or the administration.
Tourist Praveen from Chennai, who reached Shimla late on Saturday evening, said his entire plan was ruined. Staying near the ISBT, he took more than four hours just to reach the Mall Road. “All roads were blocked due to traffic. We hardly moved. What was supposed to be a short visit became exhausting,” he said. Like him, hundreds of tourists were seen abandoning plans midway due to gridlocks.
The situation was no different in Kufri and Narkanda, where a surge of visitors led to traffic snarls that lasted for hours. The Ridge and Mall Road areas remained overcrowded, while access roads remained jammed due to uncontrolled vehicle movement and roadside parking.
In Manali and Kullu, the crisis was even more severe. Thousands of vehicles poured into the hill town following snowfall in Solang Valley and near the Atal Tunnel. The Kiratpur–Nerchowk stretch of the Chandigarh–Manali four-lane highway witnessed heavy congestion as tourists from Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh rushed towards the snow. Entry points to Manali turned into parking zones, with vehicles left on roadsides without any checks.
Hotel owners, taxi operators and restaurant businesses may be smiling due to rising footfall, but tourists and locals are paying the price of poor planning. Despite repeated warnings every tourist season, there was no effective system to regulate traffic flow, restrict vehicle entry, or penalise dangerous driving.
The absence of strict action against wrong parking and reckless overtaking has worsened the situation. With no clear traffic plan in place, the administration appeared unprepared for a rush that was entirely predictable after snowfall.
Himachal Pradesh’s tourism depends on such moments, but without basic traffic discipline and administrative control, the experience is turning into chaos. If this continues, the state risks losing its credibility as a tourist-friendly destination, replacing snow memories with hours of frustration on jammed roads.
