Shimla, June 23 -- Kullu MLA Sunder Singh Thakur on Monday sought a carrying capacity study to handle the over-tourism issue in Parvati Valley. The magnitude of the tourist inflow can be calculated from the fact that daily, more than 3,000 vehicles, apart from luxury buses, are entering the town leading to long queues and highlighting the need to develop infrastructure to support the quantum of inflow. "Considering the growing number of tourists visiting internationally renowned destinations such as Manikaran and Kasol in Parvati Valley, it is essential to conduct a scientific assessment of the valley's carrying capacity," Sunder Singh Thakur said. He suggested engaging a professional agency or expert team to undertake a comprehensive study so that issues arising from over-tourism can be identified and addressed in a timely manner, ensuring sustainable tourism development. He was chairing a meeting of local area development authority (LADA) held on Monday to discuss tourism development, traffic management, sanitation and infrastructure enhancement in Parvati Valley. This comes weeks after district administration urged for safety audit of Atal Tunnel owing to tourists influx. The tunnel, built for a load of 4,500 vehicles per day, is seeing a daily traffic of 11,000 vehicles - thus forcing the district authorities to push for a safety audit of the tunnel. "He emphasised that the rapid increase in tourist arrivals in Parvati Valley has made the expansion of basic infrastructure a necessity stressing on the need to prioritise street lighting and sewerage facilities."htc...