Traffic chaos amid absence of transport nagar

In the absence of a transport nagar, haphazard parking along the roads has worsened traffic congestion in the Baddi-Barotiwala industrial cluster. The situation has aggravated after the four-laning of the Baddi-Nalagarh highway, as areas like Sandholi, where hundreds of trucks were parked in a yard along the highway, have been incorporated into the four-lane project. Despite this, no plans have been made to establish a transport nagar in recent years.

The Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN) area is home to Asia’s largest truck union, comprising around 10,000 vehicles. While there is a truck yard in Nalagarh, the Baddi-Barotiwala industrial area lacks such a facility. The lack of designated parking disrupts traffic flow, particularly during the evening, when it can take over an hour to travel the 17-km stretch of the Baddi-Nalagarh highway.

Attempts to set up such facilities have been hindered due to the absence of adequate funds. Some years ago, the Industries Department transferred 63 bighas of land at Katha village to the Transport Department for the project, but it failed to materialise due to financial constraints. Plans for the site included a driving school and an automatic vehicle testing centre. A Centre-funded transport nagar project worth crores was also rejected by the Central Government, and since then, no serious attempts have been made to establish such a facility.

Baddi SDM Vivek Mahajan has recently raised this issue with the Transport Department. While highlighting the dire necessity of setting up a transport nagar to provide an organised parking facility in this industrial cluster, the SDM said, “Absence of specific parking places has worsened traffic congestion as trucks are parked haphazardly along the roads. The roadside parking has also raised safety concerns, as the roads in this industrial belt witness movement of thousands of vehicles daily.”

With an estimated 30,000 vehicles commuting daily in the area, Mahajan stressed that addressing this issue by creating a transport nagar is crucial. “It will not only provide organised parking for industrial vehicles but also enhance road safety and support the smooth industrial operations,” he added.