Cricket fans rue parking troubles as roads remained clogged

DHARAMSHALA: Enthusiastic cricket fans at this picturesque hill town had a harrowing time as there was no sufficient space for parking here. This cricket destination was packed to capacity on Friday and all parking lots were full. There were adequate arrangements for parking of VVIP vehicles and high end tourists, yet these could not meet the need of the hour.
With roads in the city clogged with vehicles parked at roadsides, authorities failed to manage rush to the stadium as there was not enough space for parking. Adding to the woes, most people relied on four wheelers to reach the stadium as winter has begun here and the match was scheduled to end in late hours.
"We have come all the way from Jammu after a hectic drive of six hours. We had to jostle around the town to find a space to park our vehicle. This is the worst thing for us, which took out the charm of the match, as we had to park our vehicle at an unsafe place," said Reenu Nanda, who had come with her family and kids to enjoy the match.
The hill town witnessed traffic jams all through the day due to crowded roads. Police authorities said they had done their best to avoid such conditions. "We blocked the roads and made them one way for Friday. Roads connecting the town via Dari was kept for ingress while the main road via Sakoh was marked for exit," said Shiv Kumar, assistant superintendent of police here.
There were around 15,000 visitors to the town who had arrived for the match, which included non-cricket fans, who reached here in view of the weekend after the match. Most tickets for the match were sold in the last two days. Mohit Sood, media manager of the cricket association, said, "There was less advance ticket sale this time. Therefore counters were kept open till 3.00 in the noon."