Smart road work in Dharamsala to gain momentum

Raghav Guleria

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Dharamsala, February 6

The work on the proposed 3-km long smart road from School Board of Education to the bus stand in Dharamsala is going on at a snail’s pace. According to the Smart City project officials, this work once complete shall have smart ducts all along the roadside basically for the electricity cable and a separate drain to carry the rain-water.

Smart road also includes the construction of boundary walls all along the main road and gates exclusively for the those whose existing gates have been disturbed in the due process.

A single tender worth Rs 14.5 crore has been awarded to M/S MCC Power Projects Ltd for the accomplishment of these construction tasks. The ducts, around a metre deep can be sighted still under construction in patches for a long time. Majority of them are right in front of the households and the shops along the smart road. A footpath is also coming up along these incomplete ducts for the pedestrians to have a safe walk.

Identical walls with tiles of the same design have also started appearing at places. Presently, the electricity cables are being laid through these ducts to do away with the overhanging cables and wires to make the road smart. However, all these works along the road have taken a toll of jacaranda trees — the pride of the town which used to blossom with mauve flowers in April.

Experts opine that these concrete trenches are basically the utility ducts expected to accommodate all the utility services underground. However, they feel that that the size of these ducts is too small for any additional utility in future. According to the former Mayor Devinder Singh Jaggi, who is presently a councillor of the Corporation, bigger utility ducts could have a better scope for other utilities like gas pipe-line, sewage and the water pipelines.

It appears that there is lack of planning at the part of the smart city officials, as the ongoing works are being executed in bits and pieces. According to Kuldeep Sharma, proprietor of famous Krishana Sweets at Kachehari bazaar, “The proposed footpath along the ducts right in front of our shop is too high and causing a lot of inconvenience. We have repeatedly asked the authorities, but nothing has been done.”

According to J M Pathania, the former Municipal Commissioner in whose tenure the smart road was conceived asserted that the ducts were initially proposed to house all the utility services. We had planned it to be at least 7-ft deep so that a person could easily enter inside to carry out repairs without disturbing the on-ground activities.

According to the present Municipal Commissioner, who has joined recently, the priority now would be to expedite the ongoing works. Talking exclusively to The Tribune, he stated that after a review meeting, all the department concerned like PWD, Jal Shakti, Electricity Board would be called for the timely completion of the ongoing smart city initiatives. He underlined the importance of seeking advice of all stakeholders.