In Mcleodganj, the most famous tourist spot in Kangra district, associated with the Dalai Lama, lack of amenities, government apathy, traffic congestion and bad roads form a political issue ahead of Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh.
The stakeholders of tourism industry rue that the hill town had a footfall of about 5 million every year but lack of proper parking, bad roads, poor management of traffic and poor garbage disposal were the issues that hit the tourists as well as the industry. They say the successive government had not paid much attention to the town so as to make the tourism a hassle-free-experience.
Rohit Kumar, a resident of Gaggal village, who runs a taxi service in Mcleodganj said that bad roads was such a problem that it was difficult to ferry the tourists, “This time it is the tourist season but see the condition of roads. The road linking Dharamshala with Mcleolganj is in bad shape. There are huge craters. Then the roads in the main bazar are dug up. Those are being laid afresh now. It was promised that these roads would be ready in 20 days. But it has been over 60 days now that the work is still continuing,” he said.
He added, “They have laid 1,000 foundation stones of various works across the state. But where is the development? Those who visit Mcleodganj once, fear coming back to the place second time even though it is a heaven for the tourists, given the beauty of majestic mountains nestling the hill station.”
Nazeer Ahmad, a shopkeeper who runs Royal Colours store in the main market said that parking was such an issue that the taxis and tourists vehicles were parked on the both sides of the main road. “Sometimes, it takes more than half an hour to cover a small patch of road to get out of the town. One is stuck. Congestion is not the only issue but just see the vehicles with their engines on that spew venomous fumes in the environment.”
He added that the government had come up with a solution to reduce congestion by bringing a ropeway, “But it only works from 10 am to 5 pm. The tourists in luxury buses start pouring in at 7 am. The whole exercise turns futile. Then the tariff of ropeway for every person is Rs 2200 which burns a hole in tourists pocket while a taxi takes Rs 1000 to bring tourists from Dharamshala to the town.”
The hotel and restaurant association of Dharamshala also complains that tourism was on the last on the priority list of the government.
Sitting MLA of BJP from the segment, Vishal Nehria said that there were certain people who were trying to downplay the work done by the government. “We have laid foundation stones of projects worth Rs 1,000 crore in the state. Such is the magnitude of development. Roads and bridges are being constructed to smoothen the traffic flow. Development takes its own time. Such projects cannot be completed overnight. We have given the town a ropeway worth Rs 240 crore. It will take some time for things to run smoothly.”
Rakesh Chaudhary, BJP nominee from the Dharamshala constituency as Mcleodganj falls in the segment, said that there were some “Congress minded” individuals in hotel association that were levelling all kinds of allegations.
“It is only Opposition agenda. The roads are being recarpeted and widened. Soon all these problems would be over. The government has paid all the attention to the tourism industry.”