Road projects in upper Dharamsala hang fire

Tribune News Service

Lalit Mohan

Dharamsala, February 15

Road projects in the upper Dharamsala areas, including McLeodganj, Bhagsunag, Naddi and Dharamkot, are hanging fire for a long time.

Tourists dejected

These areas of upper Dharamsala see a lot of tourism activity. However, as the tourist season begins, these areas witness traffic jams lasting several hours. Tourists visiting McLeodganj are dejected after being caught in traffic jams for several hours. Neither the government nor the local authorities have taken steps to improve infrastructure in the area. — Sanjeev Rana, Hotelier

Locals and hoteliers in McLeodganj claim that many roads that could have improved the traffic situation in the area are awaiting completion for the past 40 years. These road projects were proposed to connect Bhagsunag with Indrunag, Dharamkot with Naddi and Bhagsunag with Jogibara.

The Public Works Department (PWD) officials say these projects were stuck either due to the lack of funds or clearance from the Forest Department.

The iconic McLeodganj square, which opens to seven roads, cannot even take the load of 10 vehicles coming from different directions. There is only a small road leading to the Bhagsu temple and the iconic waterfall. To make matters worse, there is barely a parking space for 50 cars at Bhagsunag. During weekends, more than 1,000 cars reach upper Dharamsala, leading to traffic jams.

There was a proposal to link the Bhagsunag road to Kamru Mod via Dushalani, bypassing McLeodganj. This could have eased traffic congestion and all tourist vehicles going to Bhagsunag or returning could have used it. 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, the work has not moved beyond a certain point for the past one decade.

“These areas of upper Dharamsala see a lot of tourism activity. However, as the tourism season begins, these areas witness traffic jams lasting for several hours. Tourists coming to McLeodganj return dejected after caught in traffic jams for several hours. Neither the government nor the local authorities have taken steps to improve infrastructure in the area,” said Sanjeev Rana, a hotelier in Dharamsala.

Ashwani Bamba, president of the Hotel Association of Upper Dharamsala, said, “The permanent solution to the problem of traffic congestion in the town is to create a bypass in mountains connecting Indrunag to Bhagsunag. This will help reduce congestion in the town and Kotwali Bazaar.”

The upper Dharamsala area gets a good number of tourists during the summer. The tourists remain stuck in traffic jams for hours due to narrow roads and the lack of adequate parking spaces near the points of their interest.

Successive governments failed to develop even basic infrastructure in Dharamsala, particularly in the upper areas, after tourism picked up in the area 40 years ago due to disturbances in Jammu and Kashmir, the hoteliers allege.

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