PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE | Dehradun
The Tourism department will launch an online portal on August 1 for tourists visiting Mussoorie. Visitors can voluntarily register on the department’s website using their Aadhaar number before arriving in the town.
However, it will be mandatory for the hotels and homestays management to register their guests on the portal after their arrival. This move is part of a broader effort to manage tourist inflow, reduce traffic congestion and ensure better planning of local infrastructure and resources, the Tourism secretary and chief executive officer of Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB), Dhiraaj Singh Garbyal said. He said that the system has been designed following directives from the National Green Tribunal (NGT).
The registration process will help officials track the number of tourists entering Mussoorie at any given time. This data will support authorities in regulating vehicular movement, arranging parking and preserving the ecological balance of the area. He said that hotel and homestay owners will also be responsible for ensuring that their guests complete the registration process. This shared responsibility is expected to improve compliance and streamline the implementation of the system. The portal will also include a separate registration and route plan feature for those using Mussoorie as a transit point to reach destinations like the Char Dham.
The aim is to distinguish between tourists who are staying in Mussoorie and those who are just passing through or stopping briefly. The department is currently working on the details of how best to handle such cases, he said. Garbyal stated that the authorities plan to analyse real-time data from the portal to determine crowd density and take action if the number of visitors exceeds a manageable limit. They hope that the system will bring transparency to tourist data, improve planning during peak seasons and reduce the environmental impact of unregulated tourist activity.
While the system is being introduced, Garbyal made it clear that the registration process is not mandatory before starting the journey to Mussoorie and the rules will be implemented in a phased manner, allowing space for adjustments based on public feedback and technical performance in the initial days of the rollout.
