Nainital’s police and civic agencies deserve applause

It’s usually but not always a thankless job of the police and/or the civic agencies carried out for the society. What ever be it the duo is an important part of the system to make sure safety, welfare and keep up cleanliness.  

Having visited Nainital the beautiful Himalayan resort town famous for its natural lakes in the Kumaon region of India’s Uttarakhand state for a few days during June, the usually peak time for any hill station as regards tourist inflow. I had some apprehensions before my trip of visiting a small hill station during its peak tourist season since most of them have a plethora of problems accommodating the unprecedented number of tourists but Nainital proved me wrong.

Before embarking, I called up an acquaintance in Nainital to check up on a few things as I was driving there for the first time during the peak tourist season. My earlier visits to Nainital were during lean season and hence I was curious to know how choked were the roads leading to and in Nainital specially the Mall from where I was to drive in. I learnt that although there were a record number of tourists this year in Nainital and the area was jam-packed, the traffic flow to Nainital and within the town was un-interrupted. I was a little perplexed to hear this as I had experienced an utter chaos of traffic a few days back when I drove down to Mussoorie for some work. The roads leading to and within Mussoorie saw chaotic traffic congestions with poor traffic management and civic amenities.

Wanting to keep my trip a comfortable one not wanting to witness the inconvenience I faced in Mussoorie I enquired, if electricity and/or water scarcity problem was plaguing the town due to heavy tourist’s rushes. The answer came, come to Nainital without any apprehension as the town did not far any such problem and the hotels too were far better off than other places.

You may wonder, why I am telling you all this. Simply for the sake of sharing some of my Nainital experiences related to the law, order, tourist traffic management and civic arrangements. All these are some of the basic and most important aspects one confronts at a busy tourist destination. Nainital in this aspect, in my view, has left many renowned hill stations in India or for that matter even Uttarakhand’s capital Dehradun behind. This simply shows that it is not the government machinery or making of laws alone which are important but the people behind who help execute them that makes all the difference.

I will substantiate to what I have mentioned above. The first thing anybody would make sure is a safe and clean place to visit. Nainital with unprecedented number of tourists thronging from all over the country and abroad did not witness, as I noticed during my few days stay there, a single hooligans incidence or filth scattered around the town, such were the policing and civic arrangements there. Adequate police force and civic personnel’s were deployed all around who monitored every nook and corner of the town to keep it safe and clean. Regular Municipal vehicles and sweepers with wheel burrows seen cleaning the area periodically during the day and even till late in the evenings.

Actually, I really saw a friendly face of the Uttarakhand police personnel’s there. Watching inquisitively I noticed the police personnel’s on duty at the Mall and else where around Nainital behaving well with the tourists and families. A number of them young recruit ready to answer any query of the tourists while ensuring strict compliance of traffic rules. I did not notice any police personnel misbehaving while managing huge tourist rush. I myself while driving past the IG Police office at Nainital gently waved to a cop to guide me the way I wanted to know. Little realizing when the cop neared me was no constable but a police officer. With no ego, he very politely explained me the route with few tips of how to go about the shortest way. This gesture certainly impressed me.

What came as a surprise to me was the orderly fashion in which the traffic moved on the approach roads to Nainital and within the town. With strict police vigil all vehicles made to drive in their lanes while also ensuring no two or four- wheeler could ply between 6 pm and 9 pm on the Mall. As a result, the road free from vehicular traffic during the evening hours saw tourists enjoying carefreely. The Mall road opposite the Naini Lake being well-lit remained alive with tourists till almost the mid night with the market and street shops and eating places doing brisk business. What was peculiar was the orderly fashion of thing there presumably as a result of good vigil and cleanliness.

All over the Mall and around the Naini Lake, the heart of the Nainital, security cameras and loud speakers fitted to check the surrounding with continuous alerts and instructions being announced by the police. The announcements were probably from police control rooms on both sides of the Mall and through continuous police vigil in person. The moment any vehicle flaunted the traffic rules, alerts sounded over the loud speakers to make sure free flow of traffic.

Unlike other places the non vehicular hours on the Mall were strictly implemented with no exceptions of any kind or so call VIPs made to break rules. Those who entered with their vehicles at any time on the Mall were not allowed to park there for even few seconds other than the hotel parking. Things were so well monitored that a police vehicle would come immediately after sounding a warning over the loud speakers to push-off the offenders or simple chalan the vehicle or toe them off the site. For tourists who drove in Nainital during the non-vehicular hours to check-in hotels on the Mall, they had to park their vehicles in designated parking areas ahead of the Mall road and could drive in only after 9 pm. to their hotels. The general parking areas too were very orderly managed with adequate space and security arrangements.

On enquiring about this kind of strict adherence of rules from the localities, I learnt the police have been able to do their duty well due to the strict Nainital High Court orders on traffic management and cleanliness. If proper traffic management and civic arrangements implemented in Nainital what stops them in Mussoorie and even Dehradun in Uttarakhand.

Will you imagine even the tri-cycle rickshaws plying on the Mall regulated by the civic authorities. With designated rickshaw stand on the Mall the tourists had to queue to get rickshaw coupon (like pre-paid booths). The best part of this was no matter how long the queue, no body had to wait for more than 15 minutes to ride on a rickshaw. With coupon system the rickshaw too could not over charge any tourist.

The boat ride on the famous Naini Lake too was regulated with ticket counters issuing tickets. The Lake too divided through imaginary lines into parts to make sure all the boatmen got business. Amazing was the fact that an approximately half hour ride on the Naini Lake cost a paltry Rs.210 for a boat which could accommodate 3 to 4 persons. This when compared to a boat ride in Mussoorie’s Municipal Garden pond costs much less.

For tourists opting for local sight-seeing tours small kiosks of private tour operators existed right on the Mall with uniform tariff. This again is completely missing in Mussoorie and Dehradun. Anybody who comes here is at the mercy of local taxis or touts for their sight-seeing who at times charge exorbitantly. The once government managed “Doon Darshan” and “Mussoorie Darshan” coaches have vanished from here over the years for reasons best known to the tourism authorities.

The Nainital model of traffic management and civic arrangements needs implementation in other places of Uttarakhand, specially the tourist destinations for hassle free tourism.

Needless to say, what really touch me every time I have been to Nainital are its simple people. May be I have been lucky in interacting with good and simple natured Kumaon people until now. I only hope this face of Kumaon remains unchanged in times to come.