Many vacate Pahalgam hotels, soldiers evict tourists from Gulmarg gondolas

A wave of fear and uncertainty has gripped tourists stranded in J&K following the attack.

Chandrakant Kale, an IMD official from Pune, had just left Pahalgam with his wife moments before the attack. “We came to know about it while we were on the way to Srinagar. I felt totally shaken,” Kale said over the phone.

Pune-based lawyer Vijaysinh Thombare, currently in Srinagar with his wife NCP neta Rupali Patil-Thombare, said tourists are alarmed and eager to leave. “Most of us are scared and want to leave J&K as soon as possible,” he said.

“We were at Pahalgam Sunday, then moved to Gulmarg the following day. Today, we were enjoying a gondola ride when soldiers instructed all tourists to vacate and return to hotels,” he said. “The roads are deserted, and the Army is everywhere.”

From Rajasthan, Vipul Bhatia and his friends Aman and Arpan — holidaying in Pahalgam — were out sightseeing Tuesday when their driver urgently told them to return to their hotel. “Shops shut down immediately, security checks intensified, and helicopters flew overhead, likely evacuating the wounded,” Bhatia added.

Many tourists in Pahalgam and surrounding areas left for Srinagar, vacating hotels. “They panicked and didn’t want to stay,” a hotelier said. However, they couldn’t proceed to Jammu due to the highway being closed because of landslides.