Protests broke out at Nandi Hills early on Sunday morning, as day visitors who were eager to make the trek up the hill were not allowed entry.
When they approached the popular weekend destination on the outskirts of Bengaluru, they found that the road had been barricaded over two kilometres away from the hill. However, around 200 visitors ignored the barricades and defied the restrictions to trek up the hill to catch the sunrise.
Following a landslip and damage to the road last year, which was relaid and opened for visitors in December 2021, the Chickballapur district administration imposed restrictions.
On weekdays, visitors are allowed as per parking available on the hill. On weekends, however, entry is restricted to only those who have booked rooms in hotels and homestays. These rules may be relaxed soon.
However for the past three months, almost every weekend people turn up in large numbers to make a trek and return home disappointed, sources said.
This Sunday was no different. “I went to the hill to catch the sunrise at around 5 a.m. and saw the road barricaded. There were already around 200 others waiting. I assumed they would give us permission. This got many of us agitated and demanded the rule be scrapped, but there was no response from the district administration. So around 200 of us defied the barricades and trekked the hill and caught the sunrise,” said Gautam Mishra, a resident of Whitefield.
Protesters criticised the weekend restrictions especially as COVID-19 cases have dropped and the road was relaid a while back. “To allow only those who have pre-booked rooms in the resorts is elitist. The district administration has to promote tourism not mar it,” said Mr. Mishra.
Over the last few weeks, the number of visitors heading to Nandi Hills has been increasing rapidly. “To prevent overcrowding, we have restricted the visitors to the hills to the parking capacity during weekdays, where you can book slots both offline and online. This system has stabilised. Weekends see even more crowding,” said Latha R., Deputy Commissioner, Chickballapur.
She added that the Tourism and Horticulture Departments want more time to adjust to the new systems to handle excess crowding during the weekends. “We will probably allow visitors up to the parking capacity even during weekends soon,” she added.
