Projects initiated in Kasauli area during BJP rule await completion

Solan: Several infrastructure development projects initiated during the previous BJP regime in Kasauli area are hanging fire since the last over a year. Despite being a key tourist attraction, the area has been suffering government apathy.

Construction of a flyover aimed at decongesting Garkhal junction enroute Kasauli, where five roads merge, has failed to begin. Larsen and Toubro had surveyed the project in June 2022 and an estimate of Rs 27 crore was prepared for it.

The project was re-tendered after lapse of several months as only a single bidder had fulfilled all formalities.

With the peak summer season having set in, traffic snarls have become the order of the day over this junction. The residents are confined to their homes as the vehicular influx on the narrow roads make it difficult for them to venture out even on foot. Presence of a flyover would have helped tide over the traffic influx.

Not only this, a significant Rs 206 crore Kasauli ropeway spanning 3.88-km, that was slated to reduce distance between Kasauli and Jabli on the Parwanoo-Dharampur National Highway-5, floated in 2020 has remained a non-starter as no bidder evinced interest in the project.

A Rs 102 crore Giri potable water scheme funded by the Jal Jiwan mission and National Agriculture Bank for Agriculture and rural Development to augment water supply in the Kasauli, Dharampur and nearby villages has failed to be commissioned despite lapse of its deadline in July 2023. Residents were now facing scarcity of water as scant rain has led to drying up of water sources. Lack of power availability in time has delayed its completion.

A division of the Jal Shakti Department, which had been opened at Dharampur in 2022, was closed by the Congress government. Despite its announcement to re-open it, the office has not become operational.