Delayed by nine years, work finally begins on Bhagsunag-Indrunag road

Lalit Mohan

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Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, August 10

The work on the Bhagsunag-Indrunag road in Kangra district has finally begun. It will help decongest the upper Dharamsala areas of McLeodganj, Dharamkot and Bhagsunag that witness traffic jams during the peak tourist season. The work on the road was started in 2015. However, the work has been stuck since then for want of funds. Sources said that NABARD had sanctioned Rs 5 crore for the road project.

Vinay Mehra, Executive Engineer, Public Works Department, said that NABARD had provided Rs 5 crore for the Bhagsunag-Indrunag road project and the work on it was likely to be completed by March 2025.

The road will provide an alternative access to the Upper Dharamsala areas that are tourist hotspots. At present, a two-lane road connects McLeodganj to Dharamsala but it is unable to handle heavy traffic, especially during the peak tourist season.

There was a proposal to link the Bhagsunag road to Kamru Mod via Dushalani, bypassing McLeodganj. This road is complete but for a 40 metre to 50 metre patch where demarcation is pending due to encroachments. Alternatively, forestland could be diverted for the road project. However, no headway was made to complete the road in the past one decade.

The tourism industry has thanked the government for starting the work on the road. Sanjeev Gandhi, general secretary of the Smart City Dharamsala Hotel and Restaurant Association, said that the work on the road had been delayed by nine years. The road would help solve the problem of traffic jams in McLeodganj and other Upper Dharamsala areas, he added.