Telecom companies have a free run in Dharamsala, commuters irked

Lalit Mohan

Dharamsala, November 23

Telecom companies are having a free run in Dharamsala Smart city. The companies are being allowed to dig even narrow roads with the help of JCB machines leading to traffic jams in the city. To add to it, no signs are being put to warn public or divert traffic from the roads being dug up. This leaves travellers stranded on roads. The residents are agitated at the ways they are being put to harassment due to unregulated digging of roads in the city.

MUCK BEING LEFT ALONG ROAD

At many places, contractors leave the muck from the dug-up trenches along the roads. Ideally, they should restore the road or at least level the muck dug up from the trenches. Navneet Thakur, resident, DHARAMSALA

Sanjay Sharma, a resident of Dhauladhar Colony in Dharamsala, said today some telecom company contractor dug up the road leading from Dharamsala international cricket stadium of the ITI. The road was narrow and the contractor was using JCB machine for the digging work. Operations of JCB machine caused extensive damage to concrete road.

Besides, the company had not put any notice on the road cautioning that the work for digging was going on. Many buses bringing children back home got struck on the road as muck was piled up along the road and JCB machine was being used. In case roads were being dug, the company officials or the administration should have diverted the traffic, he said.

Navneet Thakur, another resident, alleged that it seems that the telecom contractors are being given a free run to dig roads without any regulation. At many places, the contractors of the company undertaking the work leave the muck from the dug-up trenches along the roads. Ideally, they should restore the road or at least level the muck dug from the trenches.

Heaps of muck lying along the roads were leading to traffic jams at many places in the city, he said

Arvind Shrama, another resident of Dharamsala, said there seems to be no coordination between various departments. At places, the newly constructed streets have been damaged due to digging for laying telecom cables. The government departments should coordinate among themselves before laying of telecom wires or cables on roads so that the public money was not wasted and commuters were not inconvenienced, he said.

Deputy Commissioner Kangra, Nipun Jindal, when contacted, said he would direct the departments concerned with laying of telecom wires to ensure that the public was not harassed due to their operations.

Most of the work in narrow lanes should be done manually so that the minimum damage was caused to public infrastructure such as streets and roads.