Call to widen Mandi-Kullu road via Kataula

Dipender Manta

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Tribune News Service

Mandi, August 12

People of Mandi and Kullu districts have urged the government to widen the Mandi-Kullu road via Kataula. The 51-km road is narrow and steep. Due to the fourlaning work on the Chandigarh-Manali highway between Mandi and Kullu, the need for the widening of the road is being felt. The Chandigarh-Manali highway witnesses frequent landslides from Mandi to Aut every year. The district administration Mandi and Kullu diverts traffic via Kataula. Hoteliers of Kullu Manali said there was an urgent need to widen the road for heavy vehicles. It would provide an easy access to tourists reaching Kullu-Manali. “Being narrow, the road is not suitable for Volvo and other buses,” they said. Rajender Kumar, a resident of Mandi, said the government should get funds approved for the project from the Centre.

Anup Thakur, president of the Hoteliers Association Manali, said due to the fourlaning, the condition of the Chandigarh-Manali highway was pathetic. “We urge the government to widen the Mandi-Kullu road via Kataula,” he added.

Jitender Gupta, XEN, Public Works Department, Mandi Division-1, told The Tribune that the 28-km stretch from Mandi to Tihri via Kataula was widened a few years ago but the 23-km road from Tihri towards Bajaura is a single lane. “The PWD had sent a report of the project to the Centre but the approval is awaited,” he said.