Overcrowding Dehradun’s Gucchupani raises huge safety concerns

The temperatures at many hill stations in North India have been a target of this soaring heat wave which has caused even heat strokes to some individuals. A recent popular place known as Gucchupani cave in Dehradun became a target to overcrowding. Overcrowding Dehradun’s Gucchupani cave has raised very serious concerns of what risks are affiliated and how it can badly affect the future of tourism within Uttarakhand. Undoubtedly, tourists are flocking to various destination with water bodies or pleasant climate to help them cool off in this immense heat. Recently some places have been subjected to the overcrowding by tourists in certain regions such as the Kedarnath pilgrimage and the Mt Everest climb.

Viral Video of Overcrowding Dehradun’s Gucchupani

In the recent video which has surfaced online on the platform of X ( formerly known as Twitter) by Ashish Nautiyal, where huge crowd of tourists can be seen flocking in and out of Gucchupani cave which is in itself a huge safety concern. The video captures how badly people want to visit these water vodies during these immense heat but definitely it can be seen that they have forgotten the fact that this is cave and just one minor slip by any individual in these caves cause serious injuries.

The journey to the Gucchupani cave gets deeper and more narrow as you head towards inside which at one point even professional hikers and cave explores stop since the risks affiliated to the deep of the water and the narrow gap are a huge concern.

The concern is raised more when you understand that the monsoon season has not yet left Uttarakhand which means sudden heavy rain showers can be the cause of many risks for the people who have already reached the deeper parts of the Robbers Cave who would not be able to rush out when and if the water level within the cave starts to rise up.

History of Robbers Cave

The Gucchupani cave is also known as Robbers cave and is also known as Nero gauge cave, this cave is a one of the mesmerizing natural wonder tucked away in the tranquil embrace of the Dehradun Valley in Uttarakhand . This captivating cave holds within its depths a rich history that has intrigued explorers as well as nature lovers. Once it was a hidden gem just like any other natural wonders which are hidden away within the dense jungle, but soon after being commercialized by the Uttarakhand Tourism Board it became one of the most popular and visited landmarks in Dehradun.

The Robbers cave is something like a tale from Aladdin and the forty thieves as this cave used to be a location for thieves and robbers in the early 1800s, a dacoit named Sultana at that time used to hide and store their precious loot which included gold, diamond and other precious artifacts which were stolen from the British Raj and other traveling merchants who traveled between these hill stations during those time.

The enchanting cave system gave away the robbers one of the best possible ways to hide their loot within the cave which stretched to as far as 600 meters in length. The cave is made up of limestone which was naturally formed under pressure of the water which is divided into two parts. The water that comes into the robbers cave is known to be from Mussoorie which is connected all the way to the Robbers Cave. While reaching almost the end of the cave you will also find a wall which was built within the cave by dacoits to be safe from the hands of British raj.

What should the Tourism board of Uttarakhand do for overcrowding?

The Tourism board of Uttarakhand are well-aware of the fact that there will be over crowding of certain places which are known to be popular in and around of Dehradun but are also risky, for example just a few days ago even the Kempty Falls which is introduced during the British raj has also suffered overcrowding . so what can they do to reduce these overcrowding:

Limit the number of visitors

They can put a capacity limit which allow only new visitors to enter the tourist location after the other tourists have left the venue. These restrictions can be imposed by implementing a reservation system or by simply increasing the price of the tickets during the peak season.

Promoting off-season tourism

It is best to promote off season tourism among the people as it helps in not just reduced the overcrowding of the people but also helps to maintain a good number of visitors to the destination through out the year. This can be simply achieved by offering special discounts and special packages to visitors and groups during off season.

References

1. Jagran English “Dehradun’s Guccupani overcrowded by tourists“
2. Times of India ” Overcrowding tourism in India“