Families affected by four-laning project in Kangra face 2nd displacement
Rajiv Mahajan
Nurpur, August 24
Three families affected by a four-laning project in Kangra are facing displacement for the second time.
They were first uprooted from their ancestral land when the NHAI acquired that land and old houses for the Pathankot-Mandi highway road-widening project around four years ago. After spending sleepless nights for over a month, they had to vacate their new houses last week due to the threat posed by landslides.
Landslide risk looms
- Earlier, the NHAI acquired their ancestral houses for the Pathankot-Mandi road widening project in 2018-19
- They moved to a new place and now landslide risk looms over their new houses due to the cutting of a nearby hill
Subhash Kumar, Vikram Singh and Ramesh Kumar, whose land and houses were acquired by the NHAI between 2018 and 2019, had moved to their new houses only about one-and-a-half years ago. They have alleged that a construction firm contracted by the NHAI, which was working on the Pathankot-Mandi road-widening project, had started cutting hills vertically. This has made the hill vulnerable to landslides, threatening their new houses.
The affected families claim that they had urged the NHAI authorities as well as the local and district administration to construct a retaining wall to prevent landslides during the rainy season, but no action has been taken to address their concerns. With the danger of landslides looming, they were forced to vacate their houses.
Jawali SDM Mahinder Pratap Singh said a drone survey of the affected houses at Bhedkhud village was conducted recently. Agriculture Minister Chander Kumar had raised the issue of the safety of these houses with the NHAI authorities. The SDM said the NHAI’s Project Director at Palampur had agreed to construct a retaining wall of adequate height along the road to ensure safety of the houses.
