Palampur Ward Watch Palampur Khas: Encroachments, traffic chaos plague this area

Ravinder Sood

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Palampur, February 12

The ward number 3 of the Palampur Municipal Corporation holds importance as it comprises half of the main town area. All local schools, colleges, banks, markets and government offices fall in this ward. The ward stretches from Hotel Tea Bud to Karan Hospital. This is also happens to be one of the most thickly populated wards of the town.

The narrow Mandi-Pathankot national highway, one of the busiest roads in the town, passes through this ward. Traffic bottlenecks on this road give a tough time to commuters.

More than 100 fruit vendors and vegetable sellers have encroached upon the road in this ward, leading to traffic jams. The Municipal Corporation and the local administration are well-versed with the problem but have not initiated any steps to remove encroachments or resettle the vendors somewhere else. The number of encroachers is increasing by the day.

Few years back, the MC had constructed sheds for the vendors near the Income tax office, but till date no vendor has been shifted to these sheds. The locals have been using these vacant sheds as cow sheds and sundry purposes. Today, it has become difficult for pedestrians to move in the markets of Ward Number 3, as most of the roads have been narrowed down.

A number of accidents have taken place in the recent past in which pedestrians were mostly the victims. Besides, the rising encroachments on both sides of the highway have been leading to frequent traffic jams.

As of now, the Municipal Corporation is charging Rs 50 per day from the vendors sitting in this ward. As per municipal records, only 50 vendors are registered and paying the daily charges to the MC. At the same time, there are over 70 unregistered vendors also, who have also been squatting right on the highway and paying nothing to the MC. The civic body is yet to act against the unregistered vendors.

On Gurdwara road, which is the busy market of this ward, the width of the road had been reduced to just 3-4 metre because of large-scale encroachment. Idle parking of vehicles makes it difficult for pedestrians to move.

The menace of stray cattle is another cause for concern for residents of this ward. Herds of stray animals on old highways, bus stands, near courts and Sabzi Mandi is a common sight, posing a threat to commuters.

The number of road accidents involving stray animals has gone up in the past few months. Despite the orders of the Himachal Pradesh High Court regarding the setting up of cattle sheds, the Municipal Corporation is yet to do the needful. The Municipal Corporation has reportedly failed to curb the stray cattle menace due to the lack of resources and funds for the purpose.

Dilbag Singh, local Councillor, said there was immediate need for the rehabilitation of fruit and vegetable vendors squatting on the highway so that movement of vehicles was not affected and residents, too, get rid of traffic jams.

He added that the Animal Husbandry Department has already constructed a cow sanctuary near Gopalpur by spending Rs 3 crore, which is not operational till date. The government should ask the department concerned to shift all stray animals to new cow sanctuary immediately, the Councillor added.