PIMPRI: Heavy rains, landslides and disrupted train services on the Pune-Mumbai route for the last several days has adversely affected tourism in Lonavla and Khandala hill stations.

The two popular hill stations experience peak tourism season especially on weekends during July and August when tourist flock to these places to enjoy the monsoon. 

This year, there was not much rainfall in June and on most days of July. However, there have been heavy rains in the recent past, leading to some incidents of landslides in the ghat section. This has affected the flow of tourists to the hill stations.

Those most affected by the drop in the number of tourists due to rains are hotels, restaurants, resorts and several shops catering to the tourist crowd. 

Lonavla has nearly 125 small and big hotels and resorts. The drop in the tourists in the last three weekends has reduced the business of hotels, those involved in the sale of chikki and other ancillary business by 40 per cent, local entrepreneurs have said.

The rush of tourists to Lonavla and Khandala reaches its peak, especially on Independence Day, August 15. This year, there are also a few more holidays next week. 

The tourism industry at the hill stations is however keeping its fingers crossed as there are no signs yet of respite from the heavy downpour.