World Cup matches a week away, ride to McLeodganj still bumpy

Tribune News Service

Lalit Mohan

Dharamsala, September 29

Just about a week is left for the ICC World Cup matches to start at Dharamsala. Thousands of national and international tourists are expected to throng the HPCA stadium to enjoy high-voltage contests between different teams. However, road infrastructure in city is still not in good shape.

Two main roads leading to McLeodganj, the hub of tourism in Dharamsala region, are damaged. The Khara Danda road leading from Kotwali market to McLeodganj is damaged near Delek hospital of the Tibetan government-in-exile. The road was damaged due to a landslide during the monsoon rains.

Interestingly, the road was damaged last year also at the same point due to landslide. The PWD had erected a stone crate wall after the traffic on the road remained disrupted for months. However, the stone crate wall has once again been damaged by the recent rains, affecting traffic movement.

The main road leading from Dharamsala bypass to McLeodganj has been damaged at various points due to landslides. At one point near Dharamsala cantonment, the road has been damaged to the extent that just one vehicle can pass at a time. The damaged road is likely to cause traffic jams on the Dharamsala-McLeodganj road when a large number of tourists throng the area during the World Cup matches.

Executive Engineer, PWD Dharamsala, Jagtar Thakur, when contacted, said that the work to repair the retaining wall along the damaged portion of Khara Danda road would be started soon. “We were waiting for monsoons to withdraw. Now that the monsoons have retreated, we will plan the work,” he said.

About the landslides on the Dharamsala bypass-McLeodganj road, the Executive Engineer said that the road had become an active sliding zone at several places. “We erect retaining wall but the earth below the retaining walls is washed away due to which the road gets damaged again,” he said.

Interestingly, the national highways department had recently spent about Rs 42 crore on construction of the McLeodganj-Dharamsala road. However, just months after the completion of the work, the road has started sinking at many places.

Geological experts have been advising the district administration and the state government that proper drainage should be put in place for the entire McLeodganj hill to prevent regular landslides that were threatening the public and private properties. However, no such plan has been prepared so far.

The hotel and tourism industry of Dharamsala has requested the state government to repair the damaged roads on a war footing as the World Cup matches were approaching. The first match will be played between Afghanistan and Bangladesh on October 7.

Key roads in bad shape

• Two main roads leading to McLeodganj, the hub of tourism in Dharamsala region, are damaged. The Khara Danda road leading from Kotwali market to McLeodganj is damaged near Delek hospital of the Tibetan government-in-exile. The road was damaged due to a landslide during the monsoon rains.
• The main road leading from Dharamsala bypass to McLeodganj has been damaged at various points due to landslides. At one point near Dharamsala cantonment, the road has been damaged to the extent that just one vehicle can pass at a time.

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