Kasauli gasps for air on weekend

Ambika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Solan, June 2

With limited parking facilities, all roads in the town were bursting at the seams with an unmanageable traffic rush on Saturday.

Tourist vehicles were found parked in every nook and corner of Mall Road. It not only caused traffic chaos, but also impeded the movement of a fire tender, heading towards the Lower Mall. It took nearly 15 minutes for the fire tender to make its way through the vehicles parked on both sides. It made walking difficult for the pedestrians also.

The cantonment board has deputed staff for the effective traffic management during the weekends, but scarce parking space has added to the chaos.

During the peak summer season, hundreds of tourists throng Kasauli on the weekends. According to figures collected from the barrier of the cantonment board, 450 vehicles enter Kasauli on weekends. The number plummets during weekdays.

Traders, on the other hand, rue that the tourist influx has been about 40 per cent low this year.

“Though a proposal for a multi-level parking at the bus stand for 350 vehicles at an estimated cost of Rs 20 crore was conceived by the cantonment board last year, the work could not begin as constructions were banned by the National Green Tribunal in 2017. The town has parking lots for 300 vehicles at various locations and it is insufficient to handle the tourist rush during summers,” says Devinder Gupta, member, cantonment board.

All eyes are now on the NGT’s decision which will pave the way for the construction of a new parking space. A study on the carrying capacity of Kasauli, conducted by a committee of experts appointed by the NGT, has stressed the need to relocate the bus stand so that the number of heavy vehicles on the roads can be reduced. It, however, remains to be seen as to how the town can be decongested in view of the space constraints and the fact that tourism is the mainstay of the locals.