Damaged 15 days ago, Parwanoo highway yet to be fully restored
Ambika Sharma
Solan, July 25
A stretch of the Parwanoo-Dharampur national highway (NH-5), which was damaged due to heavy rain around 15 days ago, is yet to be restored fully as several stretches continue to sink with each fresh spell of rain.
Huge cracks have appeared on the road at places like Datiyar, Chakki Mor, near Jabli, Koti, etc. The continued erosion of the road has become a cause for concern for the commuters who feel driving was fraught with risk, especially at night.
Being the key highway that connects Shimla with Chandigarh and Delhi, it faces an immense inflow of traffic. With the apple transportation having begun, the number of heavy vehicles plying on the road was increasing by the day.
A major part of the lane facing the hill is closed for traffic as large-scale debris and boulders continue to move down the hill.
This section of the highway was in maintenance and operation stage where minor and moderate repair was being undertaken by private company GR Infra Projects, which had four-laned it.
The four-laning work of this 39-km stretch was completed in June 2021 at a cost of around Rs 1,000 crore, as against the initial estimate of Rs 748 crore. “Machines are engaged day and night to rid the road of debris and keep the traffic operational,” said Anand Dhaiya, Project Director, NHAI.
He said four-five critical points on a 13-km stretch of the Parwanoo-Dharampur section required immediate attention. A consultant engaged by the NHAI would suggest what type of engineering structures should be raised to re-build the portions of the highway that were washed away.
“Since the existing engineering techniques had failed to withstand heavy rain, the restoration work will now be undertaken on the basis of new designs suggested by the consultant,” he added.
Cracks at several places
- Huge cracks have appeared on the road at places like Datiyar, Chakki Mor, near Jabli, Koti, etc.
- Two lanes have been made operational for the vehicular traffic.
- Being the key highway that connects Shimla with Chandigarh and Delhi, it faces an immense inflow of traffic. With the apple transportation having begun, the number of heavy vehicles on the road was increasing.
- A major part of the lane facing the hill is closed for traffic as large-scale debris and boulders continue to move down the hill.
