he attraction of Murree often overrides the caution, if not the horror, that a visit to the hill station can evoke.

A majority of the tourists come from Islamabad and the Punjab. The Murree Expressway is the preferred route to this destination, though some people may take the old Murree Road. These roads run side by side, but the old Murree Road is often crowded on account of the villages it passes through.

Whether tourists arrive in Islamabad via the Motorway or GT Road, they cannot avoid BharaKahu to access the Murree Expressway. BharaKahu is notorious as a traffic bottleneck.

However, the newly constructed overhead bridge has significantly eased the traffic load. The journey from BharaKahu to Murree, whether on the Expressway or Murree Road, is incredibly pleasant. Tall pine trees in the mountains often trap clouds, and the temperaturesfall noticeably.

The city is a small district with a population of hardly 300,000. It has two main roads – The Mall and Guldana Road. The Mall is officially closed to vehicular traffic. Guldana Road is open only for exiting travellers.

Technically, the city can accommodate 3,000 to 4,000 vehicles. However, 60,000 to 70,000 vehicles enter it daily during Eid and other holidays.

“Everyone wants to reach The Mall. However, the road has few access points. To make matters worse, 350 hotels and restaurants surround it. Every inch of every passage is occupied by the agent mafia,” Aqeel Sheikh, manager of a top hotel in Murree, tells The News on Sunday.

The term ‘agent mafia’ refers to individuals who approach every visitor, whether on foot or in a vehicle, to try and steer them to some hotel. Hotel owners pay the agents a commission for bringing potential clients.

Things frequently turn ugly when a visitor refuses their help. The agents are quick to pick a fight and show aggression. Footage of tourists being harassed by the mafia regularly circulates on social media. The Punjab Police have dedicated a special squad to protect the tourists from these people.

“This happens mainly because the government has not declared hospitality an industry. There are no regulations for hotels. They have to pay highelectricity and operational costs. They get no support from the government. This leads to unsatisfactory services that customers complain about,” says Sheikh.

He adds that most hotels and restaurants lack parking space. Tourists have to park their vehicles on both sides of the roads, further clogging the way.

“Everyone wants to reach The Mall. However, the road has few access points. To make matters worse, 350 hotels and restaurants surround it. Every inch of every passage is occupied by the agent mafia,” Aqeel Sheikh, manager of a top hotel in Murree, tells The News on Sunday. The term ‘agent mafia’ refers to individuals who approach every visitor, whether on foot or in a vehicle, to try and steer them to some hotel. Hotel owners pay the agents a commission for bringing potential clients.

“Many tourists are travelling to Kashmir or Abbottabad via Murree. When the roads are blocked, they, too, get stuck in the city, adding to the tailbacks. This is a real mess.”

Prof Muhammad Zaman, head of the Zaman Research Centreat Quaid-i-Azam University, tells TNS that workable solutions are available.

“We can learn from the crowd management model used in Makkah. During the Coronavirus pandemic, they developed an AI-based solution to this problem, which is still used,” he says.

His research centre has developed AI-based solutions to address traffic problems and ensure road safety in Islamabad. Students at QAU have been using the apps it created to track their buses.

“There has to be a bus service in the city. However, a bus service could exacerbate the problem if parking plazas are not built. By constructing parking plazas, we can open doors for revenue generation. We can offer smart solutions on how to build and use these plazas and run the system,” he adds.

It seems that Murree is losing some of its charm, partly due to these problems and partly due to inflation.

Many tourists cling to the GPO Museum overlooking The Mall. It is a memorable place where many state dignitaries have left their mark.

Over a dozen such shops have popped up on The Mall. These are run mainly by people not native to Murree. They sell cheap goods and attract crowds.

Hotel dining halls have a haunting look, even during peak season, with servers often outnumbering diners.

Giant portraits of martyrs are painted on the walls of various government buildings. However, there is no memorial to those who died in their cars parked in the snow in 2022. To avoid similar tragedies, a deputy commissioner, his assistants and their staff now sit in Murree instead of Rawalpindi.

Many an apple orchard has been replaced by hotels, plazas and rest houses. Now, apples and apricots are brought to Murree from the Punjab and the KP.

A cat jumps off the church on The Mall, in front of which lies the office of the police squad that protects tourists. Warning signs cover the church walls, stating that this place is not for sale.

Couples take selfies in front of the I Love Murree signboard. Many sit on the benches across the road to watch the sunset.

A precarious rock is blown off nearby Aliyot to prevent it from sliding down onto houses. After covering this incident, local journalists, some of whom run hotels or restaurants, gather at the GPO Museum for a group photo under a banner reading We are the Voice of Murree.

The writer teaches data journalism and public diplomacy at the IIUI