Around 700 tourists from various parts of country have visited Himachal Pradesh in the first five days of the last week. On Saturday 4th July state government had allowed entry of tourists into the state with certain conditions pertaining to COVID-19 health protocol. Giving the details state government has asked tourists to follow the standard operating procedures (SOPs) to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Interestingly, majority of hotels owners and their associations in Himachal Pradesh were initially against the idea of opening hotels for tourists from other states fearing they might be carriers of coronavirus. However, tourism and civil aviation secretary Devesh Kumar said that before framing the SOPs for opening the tourism sector, the state government had examined the guidelines of other states that had also opened hotels for tourists.
Setting the guidelines for Unlock 2.0 state government had mandated earlier this month that the tourists will have to register themselves for procuring an e-pass 48 hours before visiting the state under the tourist category. They also need to carry an RT-PCR test certificate issued by an Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)-certified laboratory with a negative report, which should not be more than 72 hours old. Besides, the tourists must have downloaded the Aarogya Setu App on their mobile phones. Hotels/homestays are also supposed to do the thermal screening of the guests before the check-in.
Tourism and Civil Aviation Director Yunus Khan said that at the state entry points, all these things along with a confirmed booking of minimum five days in a registered tourism unit are being checked. The state tourism department has also issued detailed guidelines, precautions and instructions for wayside amenities, taxi service, sightseeing places, adventure sports activities and banqueting, among other things. Since most of the tourists are reaching state by road, entry points to the state and some of the districts have been witnessing long queues of vehicles at police barriers as all documents for each tourist have to be verified. Besides, health officials are also doing medical screening at entry points.
There were reports that queue of vehicles at the Shoghi police barrier in Shimla stretched for several hundred metres on one side of national highway 5, as tourists, employees and local residents returning from outside Himachal waited to enter the state. The police are also registering Himachal residents returning home for deciding their quarantine and medical surveillance, except those who are returning within 48 hours as mentioned on their passes. Shoghi lies at the Solan-Shimla district border on the Chandigarh-Shimla road. Although the state entry point on this route is at Parwanoo. That has been said to be smoother than the Shoghi check post. There is a bit of chaos at various district borders within the state as well, since all district administrations are doing verification at their levels at the road entry points.
The Kullu police said that in the first three days after relaxation, 20 tourist vehicles were sent back from the district borders due to non-fulfilment of conditions required for entry. The police said that the vehicles had around 70 tourists from Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and other states. So far, there have been few visitors to various tourist spots of the district.
However, tourists from within the state who want to come to Kullu and Manali can now do so without a Covid-negative report in hand. Kullu SP Gaurav Singh said as per directions of the government, people from within the state could move between districts without proof of hotel booking or Covid-negative report. The police are keeping a record of those coming from outside the district in buses at the Bajaura check post on the border of Mandi and Kullu districts.