Mustang. MUSTANG: A total of 6,859 tourists have visited the religious and tourist district Mustang in a single day. According to the District Police Office, a large number of domestic and foreign tourists have entered Mustang via the Beni-Jomsom road, the first day of the Tihar festival.

Following the Tihar festival, the Beni-Jomsom road section remained busy with the movement of passenger vehicles on Friday. According to the District Police Office, the number of tourists visiting Muktinath has increased in Mustang immediately after the Tihar festival.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of District Police Office, Tshering Kippa Lama, said that 6,506 domestic tourists and 353 foreign tourists entered the district in a single day. A total of 2,168 passenger vehicles entered Mustang via Myagdi on Friday alone, Lama added.

Similarly, 20,509 domestic and foreign tourists have entered Mustang via Beni-Jomsom road in the past one week of November. Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Lama said that 17,129 domestic tourists and 3,380 foreign tourists visited Mustang from October 17 to 7. According to DSP Lama, 6,736 vehicles have entered Mustang via Beni-Jomsom road in the first week of November.

A total of 118,589 tourists had visited Mustang from mid-July to mid-September of the current fiscal year. A total of 91,125 domestic and 27,464 foreigners entered Mustang from Mustang, according to the Nepal Police data.

Treasurer of Muktinath Development Committee, Pramesh Gurung, said that the number of visitors visiting Muktinath immediately after Tihar is increasing exponentially. Treasurer Gurung informed that the premises of Muktinath were full of devotees since early this morning. Treasurer Gurung said that volunteers have been mobilized along with security agencies to maintain security and queue up for the convenience of the devotees.

He said that the health workers and the High Altitude Treatment Center have been kept on standby keeping in view the possibility of high altitude fever as the winter has already started. Treasurer Gurung said that there would be no problem for the security of the devotees as CC cameras have been installed around the temple at the initiative of the ward office and Muktinath Development Committee.

Traffic management has been hampered in Mustang due to the influx of domestic tourists following the Tihar festival, police said. Hundreds of vehicles were stranded on the Beni-Jomsom road section at the same time, creating a traffic jam. Challenges have surfaced in tourist management as around 300 hotels from Mustang to Muktinath could not accommodate the tourists.

President of the Chitwan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Raju Prasad Lalchan, said that all the hotels in operation along the Beni-Jomsom National Highway were full of tourists. Lalchan said that the number of tourists has been increasing unimaginably due to the development of Mustang as an important religious and tourism site during the festivals.

Lalchan added that the number of Nepalis visiting Mustang during family visits, school and college students, employees and those returning home from abroad to celebrate the festival has increased. Although there is no tourism management in normal situation, Mustang has become the center of travel for the younger generation as Dashain, Tihar and Chhath festivals are long government holidays.

With the ease of access to the Beni-Jomsom-Korala road, a national pride project, the tourism business here has started to get a new boost. The hotels operating here are not able to accommodate tourists during the tourist season. Police have urged the tourists planning to visit Mustang during the special festival by booking hotels.