Traffic jams force tourists to return

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, June 1

Members of the hotel association here alleged that due to consistent traffic jams and lack of management by the police here, tourists were returning from McLeodganj.

They submitted a memorandum to the district administration to deploy more police force at McLeodganj for better traffic management. Talking to The Tribune, Ashok Kumar, hotelier, said citing the shortage of staff, the police were not deploying adequate numbers of personnel to manage traffic. The long traffic jams were leading to disputes between local taxi operators and tourists. At times, taxi operators have misbehaved with tourists. All this was bringing bad name to Dharamsala, he said.

Sanjeev Gandhi, general secretary of the hotel association, said it was strange that the main parking at McLeodganj had been closed in the peak tourist season. It seemed to be a conspiracy against Dharamsala tourism. With the parking lot being closed, tourist vehicles were being parked along the roads, leading to traffic jams.

It discouraged the tourists to visit the place. The government should seriously consider opening of the main parking in McLeodganj, especially during the peak tourist season, he said.

The hoteliers had been raising the issue of inadequate infrastructure and lack of management in the upper Dharamsala region. A meeting of the hotel association and district administration was held about two months ago to sort out the issues. As per documents available with The Tribune, it was decided at the meeting that all constructions would be banned in the upper Dharamsala region in May and June.

The decision would save water as the demand for water spikes during the peak tourist season. Besides, dumping of construction material along roads that affect the smooth flow of traffic would be curtailed. However, the decision taken during the meeting have remained on paper.

Still the construction material has been dumped at many places on McLeodganj-Dharamkot. The choked traffic is also creating dingy conditions in many areas of upper Dharamsala as the vehicles are not being able to reach there to collect the solid waste.