Traffic chaos chokes Garkhal junction

Ambika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Solan, June 13

With five roads converging at the Garkhal junction en route Kasauli, managing traffic during the tourist season has become a Herculean task for the police.

The area has witnessed an enormous rise in the number of tourists during summer. The five roads have remained narrow for the past several decades, thus leading to an unmanageable rush of vehicles, especially on the weekends. Since Kasauli houses an Army cantonment and Air force station, the presence of traffic jams has added to people’s woes. Vehicles can be seen parked all along the road as the place has no developed parking zone, adding to the traffic chaos, especially during the weekends.

Lt Gen (retd) Dabar said the regular traffic jams at the Garkhal junction area a cause of concern for the defence authorities as it could impede the movement of vehicles during an emergency. He said though the issue had been taken up with the state government several times, no one had expressed interest in addressing the problem.

The majority of commercial projects are located on the narrow Kasauli-Jagjitnagar Road. The movement of fire tenders was impeded for 15 to 20 minutes at this junction during a recent fire incident due to the continuous influx of vehicles.

DSP, Parwanoo, Parmod Chauhan said the district administration was apprised of the problem to chalk out a permanent solution.