Long Weekend Crowd Swells, Traffic Jams Hit Manali, Shimla, Mussoorie, Badrinath Dham

A three-day Gandhi Jayanti weekend has triggered a heavy rush of tourists and pilgrims to Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, clogging roads in Manali, Mussoorie and Shimla and near religious sites such as Badrinath Dham and Kainchi Dham. The rush began ahead of the long weekend, with a government holiday on October 2, followed by Saturday and Sunday, giving travellers three consecutive days off.

Several areas of New Delhi also witnessed traffic congestion on Thursday, ahead of the long weekend. Mandi House, Kashmere Gate, Akshardham and Pragati Maidan were reportedly among the worst-affected areas, with a noticeable increase in the number of commuters and travellers. In the hill states, long vehicle queues and slow movement stretched travel times by several hours on some routes.

Mussoorie And Manali

Mussoorie saw a sharp rise in arrivals on Friday. Long queues of vehicles built up on the Mussoorie-Dehradun Road as thousands of vehicles entered from Delhi-NCR, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.

Hotel occupancy in Mussoorie was around 90%. Traffic also moved slowly near Library Bazaar and on the route to Kempty Fall.

Manali was similarly packed. Visuals reported by ANI showed congestion across the town during the long weekend as tourists poured in from different parts of the country.

The rush brought roads in and around Manali close to a standstill. Long vehicle queues were reported from the town entrance towards Mall Road, Solang Nullah and the Atal Tunnel, with some tourists taking hours to cover stretches that usually need only a few minutes.

Following the monsoon, Himachal Pradesh has again seen a steady rise in tourist arrivals. The long weekend added to that trend, with Manali emerging as one of the busiest destinations on Friday.

Highway Delays Mount

The gridlock was not limited to the hill towns. India Today reported that traffic stretched for several kilometres on the Kalka-Shimla highway, with vehicles held up for hours and inching along.

Vehicles were stuck for hours and moved slowly on the route, according to the publication. A trip that usually takes around three-and-a-half to four hours was taking several extra hours because of the higher traffic volume.

Uttarakhand Pilgrim Rush

Uttarakhand’s pilgrimage roads were crowded too. Traffic slowed on routes to Badrinath Dham and Hemkund Sahib as more devotees moved through the state.

A seven-kilometre traffic jam was reported between Joshimath and Marwari, with long vehicle queues, according to India Today. In Nainital, Kainchi Dham—the shrine of Baba Neem Karoli—also drew large crowds.

Police updates pointed to mixed conditions elsewhere. Rudraprayag Police shared visuals on X showing a heavy influx of tourists and said the number of pilgrims at Kedarnath Dham had risen sharply because of the weekend, with devotees queuing and moving ahead for the shuttle service.

“This morning, devotees are queuing up to have darshan of Baba Kedar at Kedarnath Dham…Due to the weekend, the continuous arrival of pilgrims on the Char Dham Yatra continues. All devotees are requested to have darshan in queues and follow the guidelines issued by the administration/police,” Rudraprayag Police said on X.

Uttarkashi Police said on X that travel to Gangotri and Yamunotri Dham was running smoothly. It added that the routes stayed open and traffic moved without any disruption.