Dharamsala Ward Watch Khel Parisar: Lack of public parking, stray animals bane of busy area

Lalit Mohan

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Dharamsala, February 19

The residents of Ward No. 8, better known as Khel Parisar ward in Dharamsala, are facing the problems of insufficient parking spaces for vehicles and stray animals. They say that commercial buildings are coming up in place of residential ones in the Civil Lines area that lacks proper parking spaces.

Varun Sharma, a resident, says that Civil Lines is a prime residential area of the town. “Many hotels and commercial buildings are coming up in the area. Though commercial activity is picking up, the area lacks sufficient parking spaces to accommodate the rising numbers of vehicles. A public parking in the area is the need of the hour,” he adds.

Another resident, Karan Thakur, complains of the increasing problem of stray animals in the area. “The number of stray dogs in the ward has increased exponentially. The stray dogs generally make it difficult for people to sleep peacefully at night. It is also not safe to go out for a morning walk due to the threat posed by stray dogs. Many complaints have been made to the Municipal Corporation regarding stray animals, but to no avail,” he says.

Sunil Chaudhary, a resident of the Sakoh area, that falls in Ward No. 8, says that though their area was included in Dharamsala Municipal Corporation in 2015, it was yet to get facilities being given to urban areas.

“There are no streetlights in the inner lanes. Besides, door-to-door garbage collection has also not been done in the area. There are not enough dustbins at public places for people to dump solid waste,” he adds.

Residents of the Sakoh area stress the need for a public park for children. They allege that it is an irony that that no public place like a park has been created in their area though over Rs 600 crore has been spent in Dharamsala under the Smart City project.

Many residents of the Sakoh area still practise agriculture. The allege that the number of stray cows is rising and they are damaging their crops. They have urged the local councillor to address the problem of stray cattle.