Bus stand parking to ease chaos in McLeodganj

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, June 7

Kangra Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Prajapti has ordered the takeover of the main parking of Himachal Pradesh Bus Stand and Management Authority in McLeodganj under Section 144 of the CrPC.

The DC said due to acute shortage of parking space, the decision had been taken.

He said the parking had been handed over to a committee of the district administration, members of the Hotel Association of Dharamsala and taxi operators. The committee would temporarily run the parking during the peak tourist season, he added.

Prajapati said traffic jams in McLeodganj were denting the image of the tourist destination. “After consulting stakeholders, we decided to take over the parking temporarily,” he said.

Parking would be free for tourists. The bus stand and car parking brought up on the Build-Operate-and-Transfer (BOT) basis by the Himachal Pradesh Bus Stand and Management Authority in McLeodganj had been lying closed for the past 15 days. The reason behind the closure was a tiff between the contractor and the Himachal Pradesh Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) management.

Sources said the HRTC had recently issued the order that the contractor, who had brought up the bus stand, was not entitled to collect parking fee as he had not completed the construction of bus stand and car parking as per the approved map.

The contractor closed the parking after the orders of the HRTC. The sources said he was not even allowing the HRTC buses to be parked at the bus stand.

Regional Manager, HRTC, Dharamsala, Pankaj Chadha said the higher authorities had barred the contractor from collecting parking fee as he had not completed the building work. The closure of the parking facility in the peak tourist season has created chaos in McLeodganj. Since just 1 per cent hotels here have their own parking facility, tourists are dependent on the HRTC bus stand for car and bus parking. For cars, parking space created by the Dharamsala Municipal Corporation is available. However, for bus parking, the HRTC bus stand is the only option.

No fee for tourists

• Parking would be free for tourists. The bus stand and car parking brought up on the Build-Operate-and-Transfer (BOT) basis by the Himachal Pradesh Bus Stand and Management Authority in McLeodganj had been lying closed for the past 15 days. 
• The reason behind the closure was a tiff between the contractor and the Himachal Pradesh Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) management. The closure of the parking facility in the peak tourist season resulted in chaos.