Shimla | February 28, 2026
With the spring–summer tourist season around the corner, Shimla Police has redrawn its traffic management plan under the supervision of Gaurav Singh, deploying 30 additional personnel to ease congestion in the hill city. The move is being projected as a major step to streamline traffic, but the numbers also expose long-standing structural shortages.
According to official details, Shimla city has been divided into multiple traffic sectors, with key congestion points and junctions identified. While the sanctioned strength of traffic police stands at 180, only 136 personnel were actually in place until recently. After adding 15 staff earlier, the latest deployment of 30 more personnel has pushed the working strength to 181 — just about matching the sanctioned figure, and that too on paper.
The additional staff have been deployed at 15 pressure points, including Totu Chowk, Sanjauli–Sankat Mochan stretch, IGMC–Auckland Tunnel, Lakkar Bazaar Bus Stand, Talland, Tara Hall, Summerhill Chowk and other chronically congested locations. School zones, hospital areas and market hubs remain the prime focus.
Police officials say the objective is to ensure smoother movement for residents and tourists, curb traffic jams during peak hours, and respond faster to accidents. A parallel push has also been made to increase the number of motorcycle-borne traffic riders to tackle illegal parking and manage narrow roads — a recurring headache in Shimla’s tightly packed urban layout.
However, critics point out that merely touching the sanctioned strength does little to address the real problem: an ever-rising number of vehicles, limited road capacity, unchecked tourist inflow, and weak enforcement against illegal parking and encroachments. Shimla’s traffic woes are no longer seasonal; they are structural.
The police have announced strict monitoring during school and office hours, weekends, and the peak tourist season, with special emphasis on markets and commercial areas. Bus drivers have again been urged to halt only at designated bus stops — an appeal that has been repeated for years with limited impact.
Citizens have been invited to share traffic-related suggestions directly with the SSP’s office, a move seen as positive but reactive rather than preventive.
As Shimla braces for another tourist-heavy summer, the revised traffic plan signals intent, but whether it translates into visible relief on the roads will depend on sustained enforcement, inter-departmental coordination, and political will — not just additional boots on the ground.
