Dagshai-Kumarhatti road in bad shape

Ambika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Solan, November 23

The Dagshai-Kumarhatti road is in a pitiable condition due to lack of timely repair and maintenance. The condition of the road is worsening with each passing day. A large stretch of the road has worn out, exposing the rocky and muddy surface below.

Maintenance work under defence authorities

• Since the road falls under the cantonment, the defence authorities have to undertake its maintenance
• Though another approach road connecting the town from Dosarka on the highway is regularly repaired, no funds have been set aside for this road
• As a result, its surface has become uneven and the risk of accidents has increased manifold

The road connects the cantonment town of Dagshai to the Kalka-Shimla national highway and is serves as a key link for the residents of this town and its peripheral villages. In the absence of public transport, a large number of residents use two-wheelers to travel to nearby towns such as Dharampur and Kumarhatti. They take risk in negotiating the potholed bumpy surface.

Because of poor condition of the road, hapless residents are forced to take a detour from Dosarka to Dagshai from the highway. Since the road falls under the cantonment, the defence authorities have to undertake its maintenance. Though another approach road connecting the town from Dosarka on the highway is regularly repaired, no funds have been set aside for this road. As a result, its surface has become uneven and the risk of accidents has increased manifold.

“Since the Dagshai-Kumarhatti road is largely used by civilians, it seems it does not fall in the priority list of the defence authorities. Therefore, its condition has worsened,” says Kamal, a local resident who uses the road daily to commute to Solan for work.

Only a small patch of the concrete road in the middle is intact while its surface at the sides has worn out. “Vehicles suffer additional wear and tear because of the uneven surface,” says Ajay Kumar, a driver.

“The road does not have side drains. So whenever it rains, travelling on it becomes more difficult as rainwater seeps in through the surface and damages it,” rues Anand, another local resident. Besides housing a cantonment, Dagshai has two residential schools while several villages such as Anech situated in its periphery. The residents of Anech village prefer to commute through Gandhigram on the Kumarhatti-Nahan highway, owing to the poor condition of the connecting roads.