'Uncool' traffic jams in the cool mountains

PARWANOO/MANALI: Taking a cool break from the heat and traffic of metros and bigger cities in the plains and venturing to the hills in Himachal Pradesh may not turn out to be that cool an experience any more.
 
Traffic snarls - ranging from 30 minutes to a scary 13 hours - on narrow, winding roads has become routine in this hill state in recent weeks.
 
Traffic jams are not uncommon either at heights of 12,000-feet at Rohtang Pass, 51 km ahead of Manali, on the highway to Leh. At Marhi, just short of the Rohtang Pass - a place frequented by all tourists coming to Manali - hundreds of vehicles get caught up for hours even as holidaygoers enjoy their brief moment with snow on these higher reaches.
 
But the biggest bottleneck remains the ever-busy National Highway (NH) 22 between Panchkula (near Chandigarh) and Shimla.
 
The highway sees traffic jams almost every day - thanks to the heavy rainfall in recent days, causing landslides at every few hundred metres.
 
A major landslide this week near Koti, 10 km from Parwanoo - the entry point into Himachal - left motorists on the highway stranded for 10 to 13 hours. These included several VIPs - ministers, judges and  officials. Even their siren-blaring vehicles could not help them out of the chaos.
 
"My daughter had a flight to catch to Mumbai but she got stuck in the traffic jam near Parwanoo for eight hours. She had to return to Shimla after great difficulty," a minister in the state government told.
 
Last Wednesday, another hill gave way due to a landslide near Dharampur, leaving hundreds of vehicles stranded on each side. Being a holiday due to Independence Day (Aug 15), the number of vehicles was even more, with picnickers headed for 'dhabas' (roadside eateries) at Dharampur and Kasauli hills. People had to spend one-three hours to get out of the traffic snarl.
 
"My wife and I decided to leave the car with our driver and walked nearly six km through the traffic on either side to reach Giani ka Dhaba, a popular eatery, for lunch," rued veterinarian M.S. Kamboj.
 
With the state's apple season in full swing, matters are made worse on the highway by hundreds of fully loaded and slow-moving trucks.
 
These trucks create a major bottleneck at Parwanoo where there is a tax collection barrier. They line up on both sides of the highway, leaving limited space for other vehicles to move smoothly.
 
"We see traffic snarls several times everyday. The government should post more policemen at this point and along the highway to manage traffic better. People behave irresponsibly and make three-four queues to get ahead of others. This further complicates the problem," said Ramesh, who collects entry fee from vehicles entering Himachal at Parwanoo barrier.
 
"Why do they charge an entry fee of Rs.30 for cars if they cannot ensure smooth traffic on the highway. It is ridiculous the way that the administration in this state (Himachal) works. They are just not bothered," said an irritated Sandeep Brar. He and his friend were Thursday caught in a one-hour traffic jam on the bypass at state capital Shimla.
 
Traffic and police personnel rue the fact that they do not have enough numbers to manage the chaotic scenes.
 
"Our senior officials are just apathetic to the hardships we and the motorists face. To top it, we are often given instructions to help a VIP out of a traffic jam. There should be a permanent solution for all this," said a traffic constable, requesting anonymity.
 
Traffic jams at Kalka and Pinjore - two congested towns in Haryana that come just before Parwanoo - are also a daily routine but the Haryana government has done little to help matters. A bypass road around the Pinjore-Kalka-Parwanoo bottleneck will take three years to complete.