"Often tourists, especially foreigners, complain of poor hygienic conditions in the streets," Pankaj Chadha, owner of the McLio restaurant in McLeodganj, told IANS.
He and others said the complete civic neglect of the area was a bad advertisement for not only Himachal Pradesh - a state that tries to attract tourists - but India for the hundreds of foreigners who visit here every year.
Members of the hospitality industry say hundreds of foreigners, mainly Westerners and Asians, reach this town three to four times in a year to lend their ear to the teachings and sermons of the Dalai Lama.
State public works department executive engineer Vijay Kumar said widening and re-laying of the road stretch from Dharamsala to McLeodganj would be done by December.
The project of the ministry of road transport and highways for widening the 22-km road from Gaggal, where the airport is located, to McLeodganj via Dharamsala is on, Vijay Kumar told IANS.
"Half of the road construction work is over. Now heavy rainfall is hampering the work. Once the monsoon season is over, the work on the left over stretch would be done," he added.
Vijay Kumar said concreting of the 4-km Khara-Danda road, the shortest and second route linking Dharamsala with McLeodganj, which is also currently in bad shape, for Rs.20.94 crore has been approved under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.
But the project is yet to take off and will take at least three years to complete.
Also known as Little Lhasa, McLeodganj has lured hundreds of thousands of Westerners since Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama settled here in 1960 after fleeing from Chinese persecution with his followers. His teachings on ethics, non-violence, peace and religious harmony have made him one of the most popular and revered figures.
