By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
The sight of damaged roads and bridges in Uttarakhand is still a grim reminder of what really happened during the monsoon season. After Dharali on Aug 5, a series of disasters wreaked havoc driving away tourists from most of the places in the next 40-50 days.
But the Horrors of Dharali and Tharali flash floods have now given way to the serenity and greenery of pines and deodars. In less than one month, the picture has dramatically changed in in the hills thanks to spike in pollution level in the Delhi NCR.
Sumit Gupta (32) from Gurugram rushed to Thatyur near Mussoorie to escape the toxic air. Despite an arduous journey with full of traffic snarls, Gupta along with his family enjoyed the calmness of Thatyur.
A large number of people from Dehradun and other cities also rushed to hills to visit temples mainly due to Diwali holidays. Manju Bartwal, a school teacher, celebrated Diwali in Badrinath for the first time in her life on Oct 21. One main reason was that Bartwal (46) wanted to remain away from the sound and air pollutions caused by Diwali crackers.
“I hate pollution. So, I decided to celebrate Diwali in the fresh air of Badrinath ji,” Bartwal said. As Bartwal drove to Badrinath, the pollution level in Dehradun, surprisingly, was within the permissible limit this time during Diwali days.
But Delhi and its surrounding areas where Air Quality Index (AQI) crossed the limit, a large number of people turned toward the hills of Uttarakhand and Himachal to escape from the heavily polluted and toxic air.
Most of the roads and highways in Uttarakhand started choking since Monday with heavy traffic mainly from Delhi and surrounding areas like Gurugram and Ghaziabad. After a dull August-September that was marred by unprecedented disasters, tourists were seen flocking to hills of Uttarakhand again.
From Corbett Tiger Reserve to Gartang Gali, most of the areas were bustling with tourists. “Happy days are here again. A big thumbs up,” said Rakesh Khantwal, the owner of Gypsy Soul Resort in Kanatal near the famous Surkanda Devi temple in Tehri district. Hoteliers across the state are reporting a strong rebound in bookings. Mussoorie hotels and resorts operated at nearly 70 to 80% occupancy this week while Nainital saw a 30% jump in bookings compared to the previous week. Advance bookings from Gujarat and other states for October are also flowing in steadily.
This is despite the fact that the connecting highways remained full of potholes and cracks which have appeared after the floods. The Dehradun-Mussoorie Road has been damaged at number of places due to the Sept 15 deluge, admitted a government official from Mussoorie. A six km long traffic snarl was witnessed on Saturday (Oct 25).
“I went to my village in Chamoli district. The Karanprayag-Rishikesh highway was full of traffic,” said Surendra Rautela, an ex-serviceman.
After the closure of Kedarnath, Gangotri, Yamunotri and Hemkund shrines this week, the focus has now shifted on Badrinath which will be closed on Nov 25. Nearly 49.89 lakh pilgrims have so far visited these temples this season with Kedarnath recording the highest 17.68 lakh footfall followed by 15.43 lakh in Badrinath, according to latest figures available with the state government.