Solan: 11 foot overbridges to be built to ensure pedestrian safety on NH-5

Ambika Sharma

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Solan, July 11

In a bid to facilitate the pedestrians, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will construct 11 foot overbridges (FOBs) on the Parwanoo-Kaithlighat section of the National Highway (NH-5) soon.

FOBs by september

• The Councillor for Housing Board ward and Solan Municipal Corporation former Deputy Mayor Rajiv Kaura said six FOBs were sought from the NHAI and three were being constructed in the civic body area. He requested them to consider three more near the DAV School, over Subathu road near Saproon, and one near the sabzi mandi as these places witness a large influx of commuters.
• Additionally, five FOBs will be constructed for 22 km on the Solan-Kaithlighat stretch at places like Ber Khas, Brewary, Salogra, Silihari in Kandaghat and Waknaghat.

Six FOBs will be constructed on the 39-km Parwanoo-Solan stretch that had its four-laning work completed in April 2021. These bridges are designed for the pedestrians to cross the road. These will be 22 to 25 m in length and will have about 2 m width.

“A sum of Rs 5.2 crore would be incurred on constructing these FOBs at Datyar, Koti, Gahi in Jabli, Dharampur Bathol, Sihardi and Anji in Solan,” said Shimla NHAI Regional Officer Abdul Basit.

He said the FOBs would soon be constructed on various highways across the state so that pedestrians can be facilitated.

The NHAI hopes to put all 11 FOBs in place by September as these comprise readymade assembly units.

Meanwhile, the four-laning of the highway has led to an exponential rise in the vehicular traffic. Crossing the highway at places like Dharampur, Anji, Salogra, Koti, Jabli, Brewary, Waknaghat etc has become risky, especially for children and elderly.

The construction of an FOB at Dharampur market as well as at Kandaghat has already begun. Since three roads converge at the Dharampur junction, crossing the road is fraught with risk.

These structures were also planned in the detailed project report of four-laning the highways, keeping in view the requirement of the growing vehicular traffic.

Additionally, five FOBs will be constructed for 22 km on Solan-Kaithlighat stretch at places like Ber Khas, Brewary, Salogra, Silihari in Kandaghat and Waknaghat. A sum of Rs 5.7 crore will be incurred on its construction.

The work to four-lane this section of the highway is at an advanced stage with major structures such as a tunnel at Kandaghat being constructed. A flyover has been constructed at Chambaghat, which would be opened to traffic soon.

Several road accidents were taking place on the highway near habitations like Anji, Dharampur, Salogra, Kandaghat etc where schoolchildren particularly faced the risk while crossing the roads.

In a recent case, a three-and-a-half-year old boy was killed after a rashly driven pick-up truck hit him while he was crossing a road at Anji on the Solan-Kumarhatti highway. The mishap occurred when the child was crossing the highway with his mother. The highway at Anji, Rabaun and Housing Board area has become an accident-prone zone due to increase in vehicular traffic after the four-laning .