Admn mulls excavation of hill along Solan NH in one go

SOLAN: With boulders continuing to fall from an excavated hill near Sanwara on the Parwanoo-Solan stretch of the National Highway-5, where four-laning work is under way, the need to undertake complete excavation of the hill in one go has become imminent.

Ambika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Solan, May 25

With boulders continuing to fall from an excavated hill near Sanwara on the Parwanoo-Solan stretch of the National Highway-5, where four-laning work is under way, the need to undertake complete excavation of the hill in one go has become imminent.

Though the work is going on in a piecemeal manner, it is risky for motorists as boulders are continuously falling.

The district administration is in a bind as the only option to save the motorists from the risk is to allow uninterrupted excavation of the hill by putting on hold the movement of vehicles for a day.

Traffic will have to be diverted via alternative roads like the Kumarhatti-Nahan NH, Bhojnagar-Kamli and Parwanoo-Jangeshu roads to ensure the motorists are not inconvenienced.

With the peak tourist season under way, the highway is facing maximum influx of vehicles throughout the day.

Being a key NH, which is not only the gateway to the state from Parwanoo, but also connects the state capital, it is a ticklish issue and the district administration is weighing all options.

Though work is under way by putting on hold movement of vehicles for small intervals, it is causing traffic influx and not much can be executed.

Solan Deputy Commissioner Vinod Kumar visited the spot and took stock of the situation yesterday.

He said GR Infraprojects, which was undertaking its four-laning, has assured to complete the excavation work at the said site within a day if the traffic was put on hold. They are, however, weighing all options as it is a key highway and options like diversion of traffic have to be worked out before putting on hold the traffic.

The DC added that an inspection of the site had confirmed the fact that the boulders needed to be removed at the earliest. A section of the Kalka-Shimla rail track was damaged near Sanwara after boulders fell on it two days ago.

Officials of the state geological wing also visited the site to take stock of the situation today. Additional District Magistrate, Solan, today notified to close the Kumarhatti bypass from Kumarhatti to Dohri Dawal in Solan for six days from today to facilitate the construction of a flyover, which is part of the four-laning work.

NH shut for 8 hours

• The Solan DC has ordered closure of NH-5 from 9 pm on Saturday to to 4 am on Sunday to facilitate removal of boulders near Sanwara. Buses from Chandigarh to Solan will ply via Nahan and vice versa, while small vehicles will take the Kumarhatti-Bhojnagar-Chakki-Mor-Parwanoo route and those coming from Chandigarh towards Solan can take the Parwanoo-Kasauli route.
• Additional District Magistrate, Solan, on Saturday notified to close the Kumarhatti bypass from  for six days to facilitate the construction of a flyover, which is part of the four-laning work.