Mussoorie, Aug. 3 -- Data provided by the state government with regard to Mussoorie's tourist registration system has raised serious questions over the state government's ability to accurately assess the hill station's ecological and infrastructural carrying capacity, according to data obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The information, accessed by Dehradun-based social worker Anoop Nautiyal, revealed that only 116,008 tourists were officially registered between August 2025 and May 2026, a figure that appears to be a fraction of the actual footfall. "According to the response to the RTI query, only 116,008 tourists were officially registered over 10 months spanning from August 2025 to May 2026. These figures represent a minute fraction of the actual footfall, which is in contrast to the state government itself recording 378,037 tourist visits to Mussoorie between January and May 2022 alone," he said. The month-wise statistics obtained through the RTI indicated sharp fluctuations in tourist registrations after the system was implemented. Registrations stood at 27,349 in August 2025 before dropping to 5,876 in September. The figures rose to 8,571 in October and declined again to 6,134 in November. December recorded 9,346 registrations. The trend continued in 2026, with only 4,983 tourists registered in January and 3,003 in February, the lowest figure of the year. Registrations increased marginally to 4,759 in March before rising to 20,731 in April and 25,256 in May. However, the system recorded a steep decline thereafter, with registrations dropping to 4,623 in June and plummeting to just 172 visitors in July 2026. The RTI data stands in stark contrast to figures submitted by the Uttarakhand government to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in July 2023. According to the report, Mussoorie received 378,037 tourists between January and May 2022 alone, while the annual tourist footfall in 2022 stood at 1,173,789, including 1,171,787 domestic visitors and 2,002 foreign tourists. The 2022 data showed the hill station received 71,229 visitors in January, 60,037 in February and 51,483 in March. Tourist arrivals rose sharply to 127,160 in May and peaked at 175,758 in June. According to Nautiyal, the comparison reveals that only 58,732 tourists were registered between January and May 2026, amounting to barely 15% of the footfall recorded during the same period in 2022. The mandatory registration mechanism was introduced following directions issued by the NGT after the Joshimath land-subsidence crisis in January 2023. The tribunal had directed the state government to undertake a scientific carrying-capacity assessment of Mussoorie, following which a nine-member committee headed by the chief secretary identified 18 preventive and remedial measures to regulate tourist inflow. "Without comprehensive information on actual tourist arrivals, it is fundamentally impossible to assess real pressure on roads, traffic management, parking facilities, water supply, waste management systems, emergency services and Mussoorie's fragile ecosystem. Incomplete data leads to misleading conclusions and undermines both immediate and long-term planning," Nautiyal said. Abhishek Rohilla, additional CEO of the Tourism Development Board, said: "One portal is meant for tourists, while the other is used by hoteliers at the time of check-in. However, the process is voluntary and not binding, which has led to lower registrations," Rohilla said. He added that the government was working to strengthen it....