3 years on, Palampur-Padhar road widening work held up

Palampur, August 30

The work to widen the Palampur-Padhar (Mandi district) stretch of the Pathankot-Mandi highway four-lane project has been held up for the past three years as the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is yet to acquire land. The land acquisition is yet to begin as its alignment has not been finalised.

However, the construction of four lanes in the remaining phases of the highway is going on in full swing between Pathankot and Palampur and is likely to be completed in the next two years.

The phase-V of the highway project between Padhar and Bijni (Mandi) has also been cleared by the Environment Ministry and the project has been awarded to a private construction company. But no headway has been made for the construction of a road between Palampur and Padhar, a 60-km stretch linking Kangra to Mandi district.

Similar is the situation between Hamirpur and Ghumarwin where land acquisition has been delayed by three years. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had met Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari in this regard many times but no headway had been made.

Earlier, there was a proposal for the construction of a two-lane highway between Palampur and Mandi and Hamirpur and Bilaspur. The NHAI accordingly appointed a consultant, who prepared a project report for a two-lane highway. The previous BJP government had agreed to a two-lane Palampur-Mandi road.

However, later with the change of government in Himachal in December 2022, the new Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu opposed the construction of two-lane highways in the state. He met Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and demanded the construction of a four-lane highway project in the state keeping in view the high volume of traffic during the tourist season.

Later, on the request of the Chief Minister, the NHAI again appointed a new consultant for preparing a fresh project report for the construction of a four-lane highway. Almost one and half year has passed but neither the NHAI has received a new project report nor could it start land acquisition, resulting in delay in the execution of the project.

Vikas Surjewala, Project Director, NHAI, said that they were still waiting for the project report.