Blurb
Mullayanagiri sees massive tourist rush, triggering hours-long traffic jams, stranded visitors, and calls for stricter vehicle regulation and better hill station management systems.
Chikkamagaluru
Massive tourist inflow to Mullayanagiri and surrounding hill stations in Chikkamagaluru district led to severe traffic congestion on Sunday, leaving thousands of visitors stranded for hours amid peak holiday travel.
With consecutive public holidays and weekend rush, popular destinations in the Western Ghats, including Mullayanagiri, Dattapeeta and Galikere, witnessed an unprecedented surge in visitors. Thousands of vehicles from across Karnataka and neighbouring states headed towards the hill range, resulting in complete traffic paralysis on narrow mountain roads.
Officials said that more than a thousand vehicles entered the restricted hill stretch simultaneously, overwhelming the carrying capacity of the region. Key bottlenecks near Pandaravalli and Seethalayyanagiri experienced long queues of vehicles stretching for several kilometres, with traffic moving at a snail’s pace.
Tourists, including families with children, elderly passengers and women, were forced to remain inside their vehicles for hours due to the gridlock. Many visitors expressed frustration over the lack of crowd control and poor traffic management in the region during peak tourist days.
Several tourists alleged administrative negligence and questioned the effectiveness of the online ticketing system introduced to regulate vehicle entry into the hill station. They claimed that despite digital booking rules, enforcement on the ground remained weak.
Some visitors also raised allegations of irregularities at check-posts, claiming that unofficial payments ranging between ₹1,000 and ₹1,500 per vehicle were being collected to allow entry into the restricted zone. These allegations have prompted public calls for a transparent inquiry by the concerned authorities.
Police personnel and local check-post staff were deployed in large numbers to manage the situation and gradually ease traffic flow. However, the overwhelming volume of vehicles made it extremely difficult to restore normalcy quickly.
Frustrated tourists demanded strict regulation of vehicle entry, effective implementation of online booking systems, and better crowd management measures to prevent similar incidents in the future. Authorities are yet to issue an official response regarding the allegations of mismanagement and irregularities.
