Aizawl, May 13 -- The railway line connecting Sairang, a small town near Aizawl, to New Delhi has brought a surge in domestic tourism and, along with it, an unfamiliar anxiety among locals -- about strained infrastructure, environmental damage and treasured traditions being reduced to 60-second video shorts.

As locals deal with an unprecedented tourist surge, much of it with enthusiasm, stakeholders have flagged concerns about the packed, once-a-week Rajdhani Express landing in Sairang, unpacking tourists who have little knowledge of local customs and, what stakeholders believe to be, an obsession with making social media reels.

The beginning and the promise

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the state's first railway line - the ...