Dalhousie cries for immediate attention

DALHOUSIE: Dalhousie is not just for solitude, high slopes, sylvan serenity and unpredictable weather, but has been the abode of several distinguished personalities including Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Rabindranath Tagore, Ajit Singh, uncle of Shaheed Bhagat Singh and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.Come elections, the leaders of every political party try to cash in on the rich legacy and tourism charm of hill town to reap electoral gains.But the residents of Dalhousie are disappointed with their successive representatives as they had failed to resolve their major issues related to traffic, sanitation and promotion of tourism."During tourist season there is so much of vehicular rush that many a time tourists have to spend hours in snarling traffic," said Dr. (Capt.) GS Dhillon, the Director-Principal of DPS, while talking to TOI on Sunday even as he suggested that there should be dedicated parking slots. He further said that heavy vehicular traffic adds pollution in the air of Dalhousie.Local businessmen Rajender Gupta said that besides traffic there was a need to review the security of tourist destination. "It is seen that local police were sent on duties for various religious or other functions leaving behind a couple of constables which were not equipped enough to deal with any brawl or scuffle which often takes place during tourists season," he said. He also expressed concern on poor sanitation of the tourist spot. In the recent past the number of tourists arriving here had increased manifold due to unrest in Jammu and Kashmir and there was a need to keep Dalhousie spick and span.Congress party's sitting MLA Asha Kumari who is again contesting on Congress ticket said, "I request to people of Punjab to not bring big cars here." However, when asked about providing parking facilities, she said various places had been earmarked, but at the same time she expressed helplessness due to shortage of space. "Development is my poll plank. I have been doing the development of my constituency and will continue to do so," she said.Kumari is also known as the lucky charm for Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh since she was the in charge political affairs, Punjab when the Congress came to majority in Punjab.On the other hand, BJP's candidate DS Thakur blamed Asha Kumari for allegedly remaining absent from her constituency. "She has come here only to seek votes and she had not carried any development to name," alleged he. He said he had a vision for Dalhousie and would develop this constituency as one of the prominent tourist destinations of Himachal Pradesh. "Not just tourism, there is a lot to be done for the farmers, businessmen and youth," he said.