Jawalamukhi-Hamirpur highway section to open by Jan next year

The Jawalamukhi-Hamirpur stretch of the Shimla-Mator highway is expected to be opened for traffic by January 2026. Notably, one of the longest bridges on the Beas River along this route is nearing completion, while another bridge featuring a pier over 150 feet high on Hathali Khud is set to become an engineering landmark for the region.

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari had first announced the four-laning of the Shimla-Mator highway in 2016 during his first term, with an estimated cost of around Rs 5,000 crore. However, over time, the project cost has escalated by more than 30 per cent. In a significant change, Section Four of the highway — between Kohli in Hamirpur district and Ranital in Kangra district — originally planned as a two-lane road, is now being upgraded to a four-lane highway. According to National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) sources, consultancy work for preparing the detailed project report (DPR) has already begun. Once completed, this section will reduce the travel distance between the two locations by nearly 25 km.

Earlier, the NHAI had acquired 30 to 45 metres of land for highway construction. With the revised plan, additional land acquisition will be necessary, which may require some residents to relocate again. This has caused frustration among villagers, many of whom had rebuilt their homes after the first round of acquisition. “The NHAI should have acquired sufficient land at once,” said Ramesh Kumar, a resident near Nadaun, adding that repeated displacement disrupts lives and hampers children’s education.

Vikram Meena, Project Officer of NHAI, stated that the existing package between Ranital and Kohli will be completed by January next year. He added that the DPR for converting this section into a four-lane highway will be ready in the next two to three years.