25 national highways damaged in Himachal this monsoon season

Heavy monsoon rains and recurring landslides have left a trail of destruction across Himachal Pradesh, damaging 25 stretches of national highways and cutting off key road links. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways confirmed the scale of devastation in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, saying multiple embankments, retaining walls, bridges and road sections had collapsed or washed away this season.

According to the ministry’s data, landslides, slips, sinking of roads and formation breaches have been reported across the state, with damage recorded on major lifelines such as the Kullu-Manali highway, the Hindustan-Tibet road and the Theog-Kotkhai-Hatkoti stretch.

Elevated structures, tunnels and crash barriers have also been hit by massive landslides and boulder falls.

In several locations, highways have been rendered impassable, cutting off access to remote valleys and tourist hubs.

Among the worst-affected stretches is National Highway-3, where the Kullu-Manali section saw breaches of embankments, while the Pandoh-Takoli stretch reported damage to elevated structures due to falling boulders.

The Manali-Sarchu road also suffered formation breaches and slide-induced damage. Similarly, the Hindustan-Tibet highway witnessed widespread slips and retaining wall failures. Other damaged roads include the Shillai-Meenus-Hatkoti road, Nalagarh-Swarghat route, Paonta Sahib-Jagadhari link, and several corridors connecting Una, Dharamshala and Chamba.

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari informed the House that urgent works were being taken up to restore traffic flow through ongoing contracts or maintenance projects, with separate approvals being granted for permanent rectification after detailed assessments.

On financial support, the Centre said Himachal Pradesh has been allocated Rs 441.60 crore under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) for 2025-26, with the first instalment of Rs 198.80 crore already released. In addition, Rs 107.15 crore was released from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) last year for similar damages. Following this year’s floods and landslides, an Inter-Ministerial Central Team visited the state in July to assess losses.

Earlier, a post-disaster needs assessment had pegged the requirement for recovery and reconstruction at Rs 2,006.40 crore, of which the Centre has already released the first instalment of Rs 451.44 crore.

Gadkari added that the government was working on long-term measures to make highways in the Himalayas more disaster-resilient. These include slope protection, use of reinforced road technologies, early warning systems for cloudbursts and landslides, and collaborations with scientific institutions for geotechnical studies and hazard monitoring.

Pilot projects using radar-based landslide monitoring and mesh barriers are already underway in Himachal, including along the Parwanoo-Solan stretch of NH-5. The ministry stressed that while the Centre was responsible for the upkeep of national highways, the state government must repair and maintain state roads. Permanent reconstruction of damaged national highway stretches, it said, will be sanctioned after full assessment.