PIMPRI: A large number of tourists have descended on the Lonavla and Khandala hill stations for an extended weekend since the Independence Day, a public holiday, on Thursday. Saturday, August 17 is also a public holiday on account of the Parsi New Year.
This is also for the first time that the twin hill stations have experienced rush of tourists during this monsoon season.
The disruption of the train service and road traffic on the Pune-Mumbai highway on account of heavy rains affected the tourism industry at the two popular tourist destinations.
The rush of tourists on Independence Day, however, was far less as compared to the crowd experienced during the last few years. Consequently, there were no traffic snarls or major inconvenience to the tourists and local residents.
Thousands of tourists visited popular sites of the Bhushi dam, Rajmachi, Lohgad, Pavana dam and other areas on Thursday. The crowd is expected to increase on Saturday morning. The local police have taken precautionary measures to prevent traffic congestion during the weekend.
Local youths have turned a waterfall at Bhaje in Lonavla into the three colours of the national flag, much to the excitement of the gathered tourists.
