Hanogi-Manali stretch to be completed by September

Tribune News Service

Bhanu P Lohumi

Shimla, March 7

The 81-km Hanogi-Manali stretch of Kiratpur-Manali highway will be completed by September. The project, being constructed at Rs 4,500 crore, will have 8,256 metre-long two twin-tube and two single-tube tunnels, seven major and 16 small bridges.

The highway will bypass Nagwain and Bajaura and 10 existing roads will be realigned, including roads near Maltibaag, Raison, Dobhi-Katrain, Patlikuhl, Kalath and Bhootnath junction. The major highlight of the project is a 127-metre-long bridge at a height of 48 metre connecting two tunnels at Khothi Nullah between Kullu and Mandi at Hataun village.

About the project

• The highway to have two twin tube and two single tube tunnels, seven major and 16 small bridges
• It will bypass Nagwain and Bajaura and 10 existing roads will be realigned
• The major highlight is a 127metre bridge at a height of 48metre connecting two tunnels.

Ninety per cent of the work on this stretch has been completed. The road will reduce the travelling time considerably, said Regional Officer, NHAI, Abdul Basit, adding that a number of accidents will go down.

The Kiratpur-Manali distance will be reduced by 42 km from 236 km to 194 km. The deadline of the project is mid 2023, by which 14 tunnels of 19 km and 39 bridges will be constructed. About 40 per cent work has been completed.

The pace of the work had increased by four times in the past five months as 80 per cent of the issues obstructing the work progress resolved, Basit said. About 24 km of roads were constructed from September 2021 to January 2022 against 6.2 km roads constructed between April and August 2021, he said.

The issues such as the acquisition of land, forest clearance, shifting of electricity towers and poles and issues of residents, leading to protests resulted in delay in work.

The NHAI is executing work on five highways in the state — Shimla-Kalka, Kiratpur-Manali, Shimla-Matour, Pathankot-Mandi and Pinjore-Baddi-Nalagarh.

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