The plan to cover drainage channels will allow extra parking space without slowing down traffic
The lack of parking space has led the Dharamshala municipal corporation to think of a novel way of tackling the problem -- it will make parking lots over the drainage channels on the two sides of the city's link roads.
Since almost all free land in the city belongs to the forest department, the civic body had so far failed to provide its residents with parking lots. It said getting sanction from the department was a lengthy process.
But now the body says it has found a way out.
"We have sufficient money and law to develop parking areas anywhere within the corporation limits. Now we have decided to provide parking facility to at least permanent residents who do not have garages, by covering the drainage channels on both sides of the roads," the Dharamshala Municipal Corporation Commissioner, Lalit Jain, said.
He said the corporation would cover the drainage channels on all the motor-able link roads with iron grills to give the roads extra width, and then mark the boundary on one side for parking.
"This will not only provide safe parking on link roads but also give ample space for the smooth running of traffic," the municipal officer said.
The civic body would then allot such parking slots to the residents after charging them a fee, he added. The commissioner said that Rs 8 crore has been sanctioned to cover the roadside drains.
The work, to be executed by the Himachal Pradesh Urban Development Authority (HIMUDA), would start in August.
Dharamshala, which is to be developed as a smartcity, has also started setting up high value imported underground dustbins and door-to-door collection of garbage.
Jain said the door-to-door collection has started in the city's two wards, Shayam Nagar and Ram Nagar, on a pilot basis and 15 rag pickers have been engaged for this.
They have been given identity cards by the corporation and authorised to charge Rs 50 per month from small houses, Rs 100 per month from bigger houses and Rs 500 per month from commercial establishments, he added.
The scheme, if approved, will be extended to other wards. He further said the rag pickers could segregate and sell plastic and other waste, while the remaining waste would be disposed at the corporation's dumping site.