Kasauli hoteliers elated, traffic jams irk commuters

Ambika Sharma

Solan, April 9

An extended weekend spanning over three days due to Good Friday was a mixed bag for Kasauli residents. While a heavy influx of tourists elated hoteliers, long traffic jams were witnessed on the single-lane roads.

Hotels registered high occupancy as tourists had made advance bookings for the weekend. Besides, the town is also emerging as a popular spot for destination weddings, said Gurpreet Singh, General Manager, Kasauli Resorts. He added that local hotels and resorts had received several bookings for wedding venues for the season.

He said, “Hotels have registered good occupancy during this weekend and the tourist season has begun on an optimistic note.” He hoped that the same enthusiasm would continue for the entire season and optimum rush would be registered in the hotels in the days to come. However, he added that traffic jams at the Garkhal junction were a major dissuading factor.

Roads leading from the Kalka-Shimla highway to Kasauli registered a heavy influx of vehicles since Friday. A large number of vehicles were seen lined up on the Dharampur-Mangoti Mor-Kasauli and Dharampur-Sanawar-Kasauli roads. With the huge rush of tourists, policemen were on their toes, trying to manage traffic on the single-lane roads.

Meanwhile, local residents living along the roads had to bear the honking of vehicles throughout the day, especially during the rush hours from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm.

Hoteliers of Kasauli hope that the administration will find a solution to the problem of traffic jams soon as the state government is planning proposals like flyover at the Garkhal junction.With an occupancy rate of 40 to 60 per cent in medium to big hotels, this is the peak time for the hotels when the Kasauli area receives the maximum influx of tourists. Fifty hotels are located on the 8-km stretch of the Dharampur-Garkhal road that saw the maximum traffic influx. The area, in all, has 250 hotels, resorts, bed and breakfast units and homestays.

Proposal to install traffic lights

We are contemplating to install traffic lights at the Garkhal junction as five roads converge on this point. The junction, which leads to Kasauli, is a major traffic bottleneck owing to the narrow single-lane roads. Virender Sharma, SP, Solan