Traffic snarls at Garkhal junction irk locals

Tribune News Service

Ambika Sharma

Solan, May 4

A huge traffic influx at the Garkhal junction en route to Kasauli is no less than a nightmare for pedestrians, who face difficulties even in purchasing items of daily use.

The elderly and children are at a higher risk of being hit by speeding vehicles as they jostle for space on the five narrow roads which converge at this junction.

Emergency vehicles like ambulances and fire tenders find it tough to cross the junction. Heavy vehicles like goods trucks, which converge from the Baddi-Barotiwala industrial area, add to the woes of the locals. “Heavy vehicles sometimes hit shops, gates and doors of the buildings located along the roads and cause damage while trying to pass through the area. This is a constant cause of nuisance and harassment for us,” rued Kamal, a local trader.

None of the five roads is a double-lane carriageway.

“The situation has become so pathetic that tourist vehicles have no space but to traverse on iron grills put up on drains. One can see buses, Army vehicles and trucks jostling for space,” said Ravi, another resident.

Traffic policemen face a major challenge in ensuring the smooth passage of vehicles.

“Though tourists buy nothing at the junction, they litter the place by throwing wrappers of eatables on roads,” rues Mukesh, another trader. He adds that the government should plan a bypass to decongest this junction.

A study on the carrying capacity of the area in 2017 had also recommended the construction of a bypass.

The need to upgrade the Dharampur-Kasauli road and construct a bypass at the Garkhal junction was also proposed in the development plan of 2009, but the successive governments failed to pay any attention to it.

Though the state government stresses on promoting tourism, little has been done to improve infrastructure in this area. None of the roads leading to Kasauli has been widened in the past several decades though the vehicular traffic has increased manifold.

The situation has worsened with the onset of summer when tourists rush to Kasauli to escape scorching heat in plains. Facing neglect from the successive governments, residents lamented that the situation, if left unaddressed, would only become worse.

The PWD is exploring the possibility of a flyover, but the plan is in a nascent stage with a mere drawing having being prepared till now.

Bypass recommended in 2017

• A study done on the carrying capacity of the area in 2017 had also recommended the construction of a bypass.
• The need to upgrade the Dharampur-Kasauli road and construct a bypass at the Garkhal junction was also proposed in the development plan of 2009, but the successive governments have failed to pay any attention to it.

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