As New Year’s Eve approached, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu Tuesday tried to attract tourism in his style by declaring that no action should be taken against “drunken tourists in the state”.
“Maine to ye bhi kaha hai ki koyee paryatak agar jhoom jaaye to usko hawavalaat ki sair nahi karvaani hai. Usko aaram se sulwana hai. Taaki uske man mein ye na rahe ki main karne to enjoy aaya hun aur yahaan hawalaat ki sair kar raha hun (I have also said that if any tourist gets drunk, he/she should not be jailed. That tourist should be facilitated to sleep so that he/she feels that the visit to the Himachal Pradesh is about enjoying and not getting behind the bars),” Sukhu said.
He added that hotels in the state will not have any restrictions. He added that paan shops can remain open around the clock and that a notification to this effect has been issued, valid from December 20 to January 5.
However, he stressed that the “offer” was only for “tourists” and not for “locals to indulge in hooliganism”.
Himachal Pradesh has seen throngs of tourists during Christmas, with videos showing tens of thousands of people thronging popular destinations in the state going viral on social media. Visuals of long queues of vehicles on Christmas Eve leading to traffic jams and road congestion in Manali had gone viral on X, formerly known as Twitter.
As many as 65,000 people in more than 12,000 vehicles crossed the 9.2-kilometre Atal Tunnel on Christmas Eve, according to police data. Earlier on Saturday, a press release from the Kullu district police said around 5,000-6,000 vehicles entered Manali.
The state routinely sees an influx of tourists during every Christmas and New Year holidays. Parts of the state like Manali, Kasol and Banjar/Tirthan Valley are popular travel destinations and see a significant number of vehicular inflow with tourists flocking to holiday destinations to celebrate a ‘White Christmas’.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
First uploaded on: 27-12-2023 at 07:57 IST
