Digging of road paralyses Kangra

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, September 15

Kangra town is paralyzed these days. The reason is that the IPH Department was digging the main road passing through the town for laying sewerage and water pipelines. The main road which is passing through Kangra is the lifeline of the town. The road was already narrow due to the encroachments on both sides by shopkeepers and vendors.

What has compounded the problem is that the IPH Department at some places has dug the road right in the middle to lay sewerage and water pipelines. Generally, the sewerage and water pipelines are laid on the sides of the road. However, in Kangra town the sides of the roads have been encroached upon. Instead of removing the encroachers from the sides of the roads the IPH Department officials have dug the road just near the middle to lay sewerage and water pipes.

Ironically, some portions of the road that have been dug were concretized in the recent past.

The dug-up roads besides causing trouble to the commuters have also affected business in Kangra. “The festival season is fast approaching next month and we were eying good business. However, the dug-up roads have blocked entry to many shops and shopping centres”, some traders said. They have threatened agitation against the authorities over the issue.

Ajay, a resident of the Kangra town, said laying water and sewerage pipelines right in the middle of the road would make the problem perennial. “Whenever there is a problem in the systems the department officials would dig up the road in the middle and it would create traffic problems”, he said.

Executive Engineer, PWD, Shahpur, was not available for comments despite repeated attempts to contact him on phone.

Kangra MLA, Pawan Kajal, while talking to The Tribune, however, justified the decision of digging the road right in the middle. He said that the road had to be dug from the middle as the alignment of the sewerage and water pipelines was not working from the sides. He said that work of laying the sewerage and water pipelines would be finish with a fortnight and the road would be repaired.

However, the way sewerage and water pipelines have been laid right in the middle of the roads is likely complicate the problems of the town in the long run.