Heavy rush of vehicles choked Dharamshala city this week-end

Dharamshala, June 27, 2017: In the absence of required parking facility in and around Dharamshala, this most popular hill resort for Punjab, Haryana, Jammu region of J&K and Delhi is becoming a total mess of tourist vehicles on any day but specially on weekends (from Friday to Sunday). You can find big-long jams right from Mubarikpur in Una to Dharamshala and from Shahpur to Baijnath in Kangra districts. These jams are restricting even the moments of regular passenger bus services, which is the life line of the state in absence of rail links. The regular buses ply 6 t0 10 hours late during these days , the most worst being the Dharamshala –Delhi route.
The most popular destination in Dharamshala is McLeodganj, (where Dalai Lama stays ), due to its weather, modern atmosphere and late night life. But it is the dead end of the city as for as the roads are concerned. The main road is though double lane, but still narrow for heavy traffic. The 88-kms-long road to McLeodganj from main city got totally choked this week end.
SP police Mr S Gandhi said, "More than 6000 vehicle arrived this week end in the town and the tourist to a six fold."
As the schools are closed in the adjoining states, the families are out for hill trips and the traffic jams in McLeodganj, Bhagsunag and Dharamkot sites in Dharamshala are becoming a common sight.
Long traffic jams were witnessed even today ater the week end holidays near McLeodganj, keeping tourists stranded for hours. Ashwani , a tourist from Punjab, said he and his family had to wait for three hour in Dharamshala to reach a hotel in McLeodganj just 8 kms away
Though, the police was managing the traffic in the road leading to McLeodganj, but due to infrastructural problems in the area, vehicles stranded on the road for long hours. All parking places in McLeodganj ,in the city Dharamshala and surroundings are filled to the brim and still hundreds of vehicles are making a beeline today to their journey back to .
About 70 per cent hotels do not have their own parking place and vehicles can be seen parked outside on roads, thus creating jams.
Narrow roads to Bhagsunag and Dharamkot have been encroached upon and no action has been taken so far by the authorities concerned. Locals also park their vehicles along these narrow roads which worsens the traffic problem. Though the police and the administration has kept on planning one way roads, by passes and restricting the heavy vehicles to the narrow roads but the heavy in flow of the vehicles from neighboring state making their arrangements at a bay.
Dharamshala Palampur road the major link to Mandi Manali from here remained closed for six hours due to over floating of the tourist vehicular traffic.On this route at the Gopalpur zoo, most of the visitors park their vehicles on the highway resulting in frequent traffic jams. The routine traffic jams have been causing a lot of inconvenience to tourists and commuters here.

Vikas Dhiman, DSP, Palampur, said he had deployed traffic constables on the highway to streamline the traffic, but most of the visitors park their vehicles on the highway in the absence of proper parking place at the zoo, leading to regular traffic jams.

Long queues of vehicles can be seen on the highway daily near the zoo resulting in inconvenience to the daily commuters, passengers and tourists coming to the Kangra valley.

An official said that the government owned passenger bus service Himachal Road Transport HRTC is also planning to divert long distance and interstate buses via alternate roads during heavy tourist seasons so that public should reach their destinations in time.