Brace for bumpy ride on Nadaun-Ghagas highway

Dinesh Kanwar

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Hamirpur, December 7

Over 100 speed-breakers built between Ghagas and Nadaun on the National Highway-105 have become a nightmare for commuters, especially patients and expectant mothers.

Locals allege that instead of making the highway safe for commuters, the speed-breakers have made it more prone to accidents. They add that illuminators have not been installed on several speed-breakers, which has increased the risk of accidents.

Expectant mothers face a terrible time while travelling on this road. Recently, a pregnant woman was referred from Dr Radhakrishnan Government Medical College, Hamirpur, to Dr Rajendra Prasad Medical College at Tanda in Kangra. Speed-breakers not only caused jerks to the ambulance, but also prolonged their journey to the Kangra hospital, which was cited as one of the causes for the death of the unborn child.

Being dismantled some speed-breakers have already been removed and the process to dismantle remaining speed-breakers will be started soon. —Vikram Singh Meena, NHAI official

This stretch of the national highway was handed over to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) under the four-lane project about two years ago. The NHAI constructed speed-breakers after every kilometre. The speed-breakers are placed in a way that they slow down vehicles on the highway instead of slowing down vehicles coming onto the highway from link roads.

Besides, the speed-breakers also pose a serious threat to patients. Ravinder Singh, who operates an ambulance for a private hospital here, says speed-breakers have made transportation of injured patients difficult.

He says that sometimes, wounds of injured persons start bleeding because of jerks caused due to the speed-breakers. He adds that the speed-breakers should be constructed on link roads and not highways.

NHAI Project Officer Vikram Singh Meena, who is responsible for the four-lane project, says the speed-breakers were installed on the advice of the district administration.