Poor Kasauli roads make for bumpy ride for tourists

Ambika Sharma

Solan, April 9

Lacking regular repair and maintenance, roads leading to the key tourist town of Kasauli have been discouraging tourists.

Hoteliers rue that they pay taxes in crores, but fail to get basic civic facilities in the Kasauli Planning Area (KPA) — comprising Kasauli town and its surrounding areas. As new constructions are disallowed in Kasauli, hundreds of hotels have sprung up in rural hamlets.

The Kimmughat-Chakki Ka Mor road, where several big hotels, homestays and bed & breakfast units operate, is among the worst hit.

The road was built over a period of two decade, and was supposed to provide a shorter route to Parwanoo. Shoddy metalling was done back in 2016, and little repair was carried out after that.

The condition of the road has become pitiable, and tourists are greatly inconvenienced by its poor upkeep.

The road reduces the distance to Chandigarh by 14 km as it provides an arterial route for those heading to Chandigarh from Kasauli.

Despite the KPA having earned the reputation of hosting destination weddings, poor roads leave tourists bitter.

The area has about 250 big and small hotels operational, homestays and bed & breakfast units and many more in various stages of construction on the Dharampur-Garkhal road.

“Each hotel is paying crores as taxes to the government, but it is pitiable that funds are spent sparingly on the upkeep of the roads, which are the lifeline of the area. Not only do the locals get employment from these hotels, but the hospitality industry has given a sizable boost to the economy of the area,” said Kasauli Residents and Hoteliers Association vice-president Rocky Chimni.

Fewer funds are spared every year for the upkeep and maintenance of roads by the Public Works Department (PWD).

Despite several new roads having come up in the last few decades, there has not been a substantial increase in the budget for there repair and maintenance.

Only small sections of roads are repaired in a year due to the budgetary constraints. As such, the condition of the roads fails to improve.

While the Dharampur-Garkhal road is being repaired after several years at a cost of Rs 8 crore, the condition of the Dharampur-Sanawar road, another road connecting Kasauli to the Parwanoo-Solan highway, is in a pitiable condition after pipes were laid for a water supply scheme. Mere shoddy filling of the potholes was done by the PWD though colossal damage was caused to the culverts.