After the Himachal Pradesh government announced the easing of Covid-19 restrictions, tourists started to head to higher altitudes, especially to Shimla, Kullu-Manali, and Dharamsala. Within a few hours of the opening of the borders, long serpentine queues of vehicles were witnessed at the entry points after cops stopped vehicles to examine the e-pass of travellers arriving from other states. Ever since the videos of the heavy traffic flocking to the state surfaced on the internet, netizens couldn’t contain their amazement and shared amusing reactions.
Several users expressed concern and disappointment over the long queues of vehicles and thought the irresponsible behaviour of people could lead to the third wave of coronavirus, while others took a jibe sharing memes and jokes on them.
Himachal Pradesh eased travel restrictions and as per reports 5000 vehicles entered Shimla in last 36 hours. Tomorrow same people will blame Modi ji for the 3rd wave pic.twitter.com/y31LDu07SD— desi mojito 🇮🇳 (@desimojito) June 14, 2021
Some people also warned against overcrowding as experts have also warned of a third Covid-19 wave.
Hum kabhi nahi sudhrenge!!— Beckbenchar (@beckbenchar) June 13, 2021
The early foot print and of waiting in Third wave, if COVID appropriate behaviour is not followed.Need to enforce all regulations, but there is fatigue in the administration and law enforcing agencies also— @Sood Ashwani (@SoodAshwani1) June 13, 2021
Waah kya systematic traffic hai 😜— रोहित डवरे🇮🇳 (@rohitdaware) June 13, 2021
Over 5,000 vehicles were reported to have entered Shimla within hours from Shogi barrier, after the Himachal government opened their borders without the mandatory RT-PCR negative report. Although police has warned the tourists from flouting the Covid-19 precautionary norms, heavy rush has been witnessed on the Ridge and The Mall Road in Shimla.
As per The Tribune, the occupancy on this weekend reached 30 per cent. In the coming week, it is expected to go up to 60 per cent. Nearly 25 per cent of tourists already had bookings, while the same percentage of tourists were walk-in.
Shimla Superintendent of Police Mohit Chawla said they are urging people to follow the Covid-19 protocols and have warned of eight-day jail in case of repeated violations. He added that they have even appealed to hotel owners to abide by the standard operating procedures (SOPs) such as wearing of masks, proper sanitization and avoid overcrowding so that tourists feel safe and comfortable.
However, 5.00 pm to 5.00 am curfew still remains in the state. The shops will open from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm from June 14 onwards. Section 144 has been revoked and public transport with 50 percent capacity is allowed to run.
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