Commuters’ nightmare Theog-Hatkoti-Rohru road has again got attention of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister’s as in his public address he has cautioned a Chadha and Chadha Company, executing widening of the World Bank funded Rs 321-crore road project, to complete the work within stipulated time or face action.
Speaking at the concluding ceremony of a three-day wrestling championship at Kotkhai, the chief minister said
“The work on the Theog-Rohru-Hatkoti road has been sanctioned to Chadha and Chadha Company by the World Bank. If the company failed to complete the work within time, its tenders would be cancelled,”
The widening of road work was initiated in 2007 and since then it has turned from bad into worse and causing agony for daily commuters and apple growers. Hundreds of Crore worth apple produced in the Rohru, Jubbal, Kotkhai and adjoining region and manly dependent of this road to reach to the market.
Growers were constantly raising the issue with the state government and urging all concerned department to expedite the work, but till now they have failed to get desired dividend.
Both major political outfit Congress and BJP were blaming each other for the delay. BJP leaders were accusing Congress government of 2003-07 for the mess as they claimed that the road work was awarded to the Chinese company without granting necessary approval and later hit by the stringent VISA norms. However, Congress putting all fault on previous Dhumal led State Government.
Congress candidate had even made it a major poll issue as during his assembly election campaign he’d promised to improve the condition of it within three months, but as evident to all, his promises have also fallen flat thus leaving daily commuters and apple growers in lurch.
Chief Minister has also share his concern during his assembly poll campaign and latest in parliamentary campaign, but despite that pace of the widening work hasn’t picked up and local people were forced to travel in this dangerous bumpy road.
With the present pace of the widening work it’s difficult to predict how much more time it’ll take, but it’s evident that political and administrative apathy will waste crore of hard earned money of local people and tax payers for a cause, which can have been managed precisely.
