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Kuldeep Chauhan
Three tunnels were proposed in the capital city of Shimla to ease traffic congestion, cut travel distance and time for commuters, and facilitate fast vehicular movement on the Circular road and the Sanjauli-Dhalli road. These two roads have become major traffic bottlenecks in the city, impeding the movement of people.
The three tunnels are — Lift Combermere Hotel to Lakkar Bazaar, Himfed Petrol Pump to Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) on the Circular road and a parallel one to the existing Dhalli tunnel on the Sanjauli-Dhalli road. These tunnels were proposed during 2008-09 with an aim to decongest the city roads.
The two tunnels — Dhalli and Lift Combermere — were proposed to be constructed under the Shimla Smart City project. But nothing much has happened and the fate of the third tunnel remains buried in official files.
Even after 10 years, nothing substantial has happened on the ground in the city. The Public Works Department (PWD) and the HP Road Infrastructure Development Corporation (HPRIDC), the main agencies involved in the tunnel projects, have failed to make any progress.
The present government led by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur is yet to talk about the projects.
The PWD and the HPRIDC prepared the preliminary detailed project reports (DPRs) of the tunnels on the basis of feasibility studies conducted by different agencies engaged by the HPRIDC.
The Lift Combermere Hotel to Lakkar Bazaar and Himfed Petrol Station to IGMC tunnels were proposed to ease traffic congestion in the state capital. The DPRs were prepared by M/s GC-RITES for Rs 3.12 crore, as proposed by the Shimla Municipal Corporation and the Urban Development Department. The DPRs for the Lift Combermere Hotel to Lakkar Bazaar and Himfed Petrol Station to IGMC tunnels were handed over to the Shimla Municipal Corporation in February 2015, for further necessary action. But with the new government in place, the fate of the DPRs remained uncertain. There is a talk that the Shimla Municipal Corporation is taking up the proposal of the 150-metre Dhalli tunnel under the Smart City project.
“The detailed project reports were prepared a few years ago and we need to revise the cost and terms of the projects,” says Suresh Kapur, Superintending Engineer, PWD, Shimla, which is now taking up the project. “The cost of the Dhalli tunnel was Rs 56 crore. We will consider the Dhalli and Lift Combermere Hotel to Lakkar Bazaar tunnel projects in the due course of time,” he adds without giving any time frame.
While these projects proposed during 2008-9 have remained in limbo for over 10 years, local residents and tourists continue to face traffic jams on the Circular road and the Sanjauli-Dhalli road. Both these roads witness heavy traffic, posing hazards to pedestrians, mainly on the Sanjauli-Dhalli road.
Constructed by the British over 120 years ago, the present Dhalli tunnel is narrow and is meant only for one-way movement. Vehicles remain stranded for hours on both sides of the tunnel. The local administration diverts traffic onto the Sanjauli bypass for one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening to facilitate the movement of pedestrians on the Sanjauli-Dhalli road.
But even this measure has failed to ease congestion on this road. So, if a parallel traffic tunnel between Dhalli and Sanjauli is proposed, it will ease traffic jams, says Rajinder Thakur, a resident of Sanjauli. But it is strange that the state government is not serious about the execution of the project, add locals.
Similarly, the fate of the Lift Combermere Hotel-Lakkar Bazaar and Himfed Petrol Station to IGMC tunnels, which are proposed to decongest the Cart road, remains uncertain even after 10 years.
The Cart road witnesses heavy traffic jams. The most affected are patients referred from Ripon Hospital and common people, who have to travel in overcrowded buses, to reach the IGMC and Lakkar Bazaar. They have to change buses twice to reach the hospital, say the residents.
Once completed, these tunnels will ease traffic congestion and improve public mobility in the city, say residents. They want the work on the projects to be expedited.
Ajay Garg, Superintending Engineer, Shimla Smart City project, says that they are taking up the projects with the PWD. They will discuss the matter in the meeting of the board of directors of the Smart City project scheduled this month, he adds.