DEHRADUN: A large proportion of tourists entering Mussoorie may be bypassing the official registration system, undermining efforts to assess the pressure on the hill town’s roads, water supply, waste-management facilities and fragile ecosystem, information obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act has revealed.
An RTI response received by social worker Anoop Nautiyal on June 10 this year shows that only 1,16,008 tourists were registered during the 10-month period from August 2025 to May 2026. The figure appears unusually low, considering the heavy influx witnessed during weekends, festivals, holidays and the summer season.
Official data recorded 27,349 registrations in August 2025, followed by 5,876 in September, 8,571 in October, 6,134 in November and 9,346 in December.
Registrations fell to 4,983 in January 2026, 3,003 in February and 4,759 in March, before rising to 20,731 in April and 25,256 in May.
The figures have raised questions about the reach and implementation of the registration mechanism introduced following the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) intervention after the Joshimath land-subsidence crisis in January 2023.
Taking suo motu cognisance of the crisis, the NGT had directed a scientific assessment of Mussoorie’s carrying capacity. The Uttarakhand government subsequently constituted a nine-member committee, headed by the Chief Secretary, to assess the town’s carrying capacity and recommend preventive and remedial measures.
In a report submitted to the tribunal on July 24, 2023, the state identified 18 measures and acknowledged that tourist registration should be regulated in accordance with the area’s carrying capacity.
However, a comparison with the government’s earlier figures exposes a substantial gap. The state’s report recorded 3,78,037 tourist arrivals between January and May 2022. In contrast, only 58,732 visitors were registered during the corresponding period in 2026—about 15 per cent of the 2022 footfall.
“The government’s own report recorded 3,78,037 tourists in Mussoorie between January and May 2022, but only 58,732 were registered during the same period in 2026,” Nautiyal told TNIE.
“With the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway likely to trigger a massive increase in tourist inflow, barely five to 10 per cent of actual visitors may currently be getting registered. The figures must be validated, and the system must be drastically overhauled,” he said.
Nautiyal, who has consistently raised environmental and development issues concerning Uttarakhand, said reliable visitor data was central to any credible carrying-capacity assessment.
“Without comprehensive data, it is impossible to measure the pressure on traffic, parking, water supply, accommodation, waste management, emergency services and Mussoorie’s fragile ecology. Incomplete figures produce misleading conclusions and weaken both immediate and long-term planning,” he said.
He urged the NGT to examine the ground situation and order corrective action, warning that Mussoorie’s tourism growth could not be managed scientifically unless registration figures reflected the actual number of visitors.