The Ridge, Shimla’s famous promenade, teems with tourists and local people on New Year’s Eve morning.

By evening, police had cleared the area because of fears of the spread of the highly contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus.

Police had cleared the area because of fears of the spread of the highly contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus. PTI Photo

Shimla deputy commissioner Aditya Negi said thousands of people had gathered at the Ridge maidan and the district administration thought it better to vacate the area.

Scores of tourists from Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and nearby areas and local people had gathered at the Ridge when the police began clearing the area around 7.30pm, a tourist said.