Dehra-Jawali road awaits widening
Raghav Guleria
Dharamsala, June 26
The widening of the Dehra-Jawali road, one of the oldest district roads in the state, is the most sought-after demand of the people of the region. Widening the road would mean safe and convenient connectivity for thousands of people who live in the over 50 densely populated villages along this route. The 3 metre wide single-lane road needs to be upgraded to an intermediate road with a width of 5.5 metres.
Dehra PWD executive engineer (XEn) Suresh Walia told The Tribune that the road from Dehra to Haripur had been upgraded, while the proposal for the left-out stretch, from Haripur to Ghera near Nagrota Surian, was being prepared and would be submitted to the government soon. He said he had already asked the field staff to make a proposal for the widening of the stretch from Haripur to Ghera falling under his division.
According to Jawali PWD XEn Manohar Lal, the road is one of the most strategic roads that, he said, dated back to the pre-Independence era. He said the the road needed widening, keeping in view the increased traffic. He said the division had made a DPR for the proposed double-laning of the 45 km stretch from Ghera to Jawali. The department needed Rs 55 crore, for which it was looking towards sanctions from the CRF pool, he added.
It is pertinent to mention here that the entire area has been suffering due to the lack of political will. Minister Chaudhary Chander Kumar, who has represented Jawali constituency for a considerable time, when reached for his comments on the widening of this road, talked about its downgrading to facilitate the opening of liquor vends.
People of the entire region await the widening of this road desperately as they are solely dependent on it for commuting. Barjinder Guleria and Atul Mahajan, president of Haripur Vyapar Mandal, said they were optimistic that the government would take note of their troubles and mend the road on priority.
Starting from Dehra this road would benefit all villages enroute, which include Bongta, Kherrian, Bhatoli Fakorian, Haripur, Guler, Nandpur, Barial, Ludret, Khabbal, Sugnara, Nagrota Surian, Sakri, Bilaspur, Basa, Katora, Harsar, Jawali, Bharmar to finally reach Raja ka Talab. This road once widened would not only ease the transportation but will also prove to be the life-line connecting people living around Raja Ka Talab at Nurpur, Jassur to reach Jawalaji, Nadaun, Hamirpur and further to Shimla. Experts opine the road, going all along the Pong wetland, could help increase tourism there too.
