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| Traffic jam near Kacheri Junction in Dharamshala (Image Credit: Shubham) |
Dharamshala: Despite being selected to be developed as a smart city, Dharamsala is yet to have enough parking spaces in the city limits. Though a new parking lot has just finished construction in the DC office compound, it is limited in capacity.
Baldev Guleria, the guard who takes care of the parking lot in the DC office, says that when traffic increases the place gets filled easily. "This parking lot is too small and gets filled up easily when the traffic increases'', he said. The parking lot can accommodate only 60 cars.
Most of the hotels have no parking available and even government offices have insufficient parking. Due to this, in most places in the city limits and the adjoining tourist spots, vehicles park on the road side, often causing traffic jams, especially on peak days.
"Dal Lake is a good place but for tourists, there is no area for parking available. The vehicles of tourists have to be parked on the roadside,'' said Nikita Patel, a tourist from Gujarat. Especially after the recent snowfalls, road to Naddi and Dal Lake got choked with traffic jams on weekends as hundreds of tourists poured in to enjoy the snow. In the absence of parking space, vehicles parked on the side of these narrow roads holds up the entire traffic. “My family members had to wait for an hour in the car to reach the tourist spot, due to the traffic jam”, says Nikita.
This is also affecting the local business as well. According to Saurabh Thakur, one of the owners of Thakur Tea Stall near the Police Ground, this cost him good business on certain days. "Due to lack of parking, people are not able to stop nearby to have a cup of tea,'' says he.
The narrow roads are a big issue here, especially during the peak season from May to June, says Vijay Kumar, a traffic police officer in Dharamshala. “There shall be one way system in the city to improve the situation”, says he. Many shop keepers feel that the parking problem in Dharamshala and nearby tourist places such as Dharamkot, Bhagsu Naag, Dal Lake, Mcleodganj, and Naddi could be eased by developing some more parking areas.
The absence of parking spaces has also resulted in people getting used to parking by the roadside. "More parking lots are needed but strict rules are also required as in case of other smart cities like Chandigarh”, says Vijay Kumar. “In those cities, police quickly takes away vehicles which violate parking rules”, he said.
