Damaged Kumarhatti-Dagshai road rendered unfit for vehicles

The key Kumarhatti-Dagshai road that connects Dagshai to the Kalka-Shimla National Highway (NH) has been rendered unfit for motorists this monsoon.

At several places, stretches of the road have eroded along the valley side and its width has reduced considerably. Uprooted trees, which were precariously perched along the hills, continue to pose threat to motorists.

The road falls under the purview of the defence authorities, which have not undertaken its repair for years. As the defence staff use an alternative route from Dosarka to reach the highway, residents of Dagshai and nearby villages like Anech usually use this road. While the Dagshai-Dosarka road receives regular funds for repair, the step-motherly treatment meted out to this road has become a cause for concern for local residents.

Another road from Dagshai leading to Anech village, which is a shorter route to the Kumarhatti-Nahan highway at Gandhigram, is facing equal neglect and has not been repaired for decades.

Successive state governments did not spare funds for the repair of the two roads connecting the key cantonment town of Dagshai. “In the absence of repair, the condition of this road worsens after the monsoon every year. With stretches of the road eroding, the parapet, too, has been damaged and pushed several feet below,” laments Deepak, a local resident.

“Since drains are not cleaned regularly, rainwater flows onto the road and causes it damage. Gaping potholes and worn out surface have made commuting on the road unsafe for motorists. Even four-wheeler runs the risk of overturning, as the sides of the road have eroded,” says Rakesh, a Dagshai resident, who travels on the road every day.

The residents say that this road should be handed over to the state government in the ongoing excising exercise under which civilian areas in this cantonment town are being transferred to it.

Dagshai town attracts a good number of tourists, who visit the Jail Museum, which had housed several high-profile prisoners during the British days, besides, an old church as well as a marble sculpture of Mary Rebecca.