In 2024, more than 2 million visitors went to the small towns of Landour and Mussoorie in the Himalayan foothills, prompting authorities to introduce daily limits
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ntil recently, the drive up the mountainous road to Landour was a highlight of a visit to the small hilltop town, as drivers enjoyed glorious Himalayan views and breathed in the cool forest air. Today, the journey is something to be endured with up to 1,000 cars a day clogging the narrow, winding road – slowing to navigate hairpin bends.
A journey that once took five to six hours from Delhi can now take up to 10 hours, especially at weekends in May and June.
Sitting in the foothills of the Himalayas at an altitude of more than 2,100 metres (7,000ft), Landour, a town of fewer than 4,000 people, was built by the British Indian army in the early 1820s as a convalescence station, thanks to its cooler temperatures.
