Authorities wake up to traffic congestion in Shimla

Shimla: With hill town Shimla witnessing four to six times increase in vehicles during peak tourist seasons, managing traffic flow has become a challenge for the administration especially because the town lacks adequate parking lots.
Deputy Commissioner Amit Kashyap said that a meeting was held on Tuesday to review the traffic situation. He said that Shimla superintendent of police (SP) has been requested to deploy additional police force at important points in the city to regulate traffic.A decision has also been made to make Tutikandi parking available for tourist vehicles during weekends.
Kashyap said that regulating traffic during tourist season is necessary as rising number of vehicles in the hill town creates problems and it aggravates during the tourist season. Since the number of vehicles in the hill town increases by 4 to 6 times during tourist seasons, there is need to regulate the traffic, on one hand, and to create awareness among tourists and local people, on the other.
He said that in the wake of tourist rush, the Shimla SP would increase deployment of traffic police personnel, especially from Shoghi to Dhalli and all other important locations.
He has also directed for regular deployment of police riders between Victory Tunnel and Tutijandi bypass parking. During the school hours in the morning and evening, the police riders should be deployed up to New Shimla.
He has also directed the Public Works Department (PWD) to remove construction material lying along the roads between Shoghi and Dhalli as they are affecting traffic movement. Directions have also been issued to speed up widening of roads at various places and fill the potholes on roads.
For smooth flow of traffic, directions have been issued for the buses to stop at designated stoppages only. The traffic coming from Chandigarh for Upper Shimla would be diverted to Shoghi bypass, while the traffic from Dhalli for Solan and Chandigarh would be diverted to Dhalli bypass.
During the weekend, parking would be provided to tourists at Tutikandi parking, and from there tourists will enter the town in taxi service to be provided by the Himachal Road Transport Corporation.