4 days Ago
Limited parking spaces and an increase in tourist inflow have made traffic jams a major concern in Nainital, one of Uttarakhand’s most popular destinations, prompting the Uttarakhand high court to seek the help of experts from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kashipur for a long-term solution. A bench of Chief Justice G Narender and Justice Alok Mahra on Thursday directed IIM Kashipur to study the load-bearing capacity of Nainital’s roads and submit a detailed report. It asked the institute to inform it by Monday whether the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, the Indian Road Congress, the Central Road Research Institute, and the Geological Survey of India could help it.
The bench sought an update from the state government on the proposed construction of a parking facility on 45 acres of land of a defunct factory in Ranibagh and a shuttle service for tourists to limit the vehicles entering Nainital. The bench reviewed the ongoing multi-storey parking project for 90 vehicles at the site of the old Ashok Talkies in Nanital with a budget of ₹ 5.25 crore.
Advocate DS Patni, who represented the Nanital municipality, questioned the project and termed it a misuse of public funds. The state government maintained that the land belongs to the government. The court noted the concerns and issued verbal instructions to temporarily halt the project.
The court, which will take up the matter again on Monday, was hearing over half a dozen petitions related to environmental issues, traffic congestion, parking, and the carrying capacity of Nainital’s roads. Lawyer Karthik Jayshankar, who represented environmentalist Ajay Singh Rawat in one of the petitions, said IIM Kashipur director Somnath Chakrabarti and a team of experts appeared virtually before the court on Thursday. They informed the court that IIM experts visited key locations and presented preliminary suggestions regarding parking infrastructure, traffic diversions, and a shuttle service to ease congestion.
.
