Joint inspection for safety of Hamirpur-Mandi road from Nov 23

A high-level review meeting was held here yesterday to assess the progress of the under-construction Hamirpur-Mandi National Highway (NH-70) via Dharampur and to address grievances of people affected by the project. The meeting saw the participation of MLAs Anil Sharma, Chander Shekhar and Dileep Thakur, along with Deputy Commissioner Apoorv Devgan. Regional Officer (RO), MoRTH (Shimla), AK Kushwaha, joined the meeting virtually.

Discussions primarily focused on road quality, safety of houses impacted by excavation and cutting and bottlenecks hindering construction work.

Responding to the MLAs’ demand, authorities decided to conduct a three-phase joint inspection to examine all sensitive spots along the highway alignment: November 23: Talyahad to Seehan; November 24: Awah Devi to Padchu; and November 25: Padchu to Seehan.

The inspection teams will include the concerned MLAs, officials from the Revenue, PWD, Jal Shakti and Electricity Departments, MoRTH officials, and representatives of the construction company.

MLAs prominently raised concerns that several houses located outside the Right of Way (ROW) have suffered damage due to hill cutting. Addressing this, the MoRTH RO said a proposal for installing concrete retaining structures to ensure the safety of impacted houses has already been sent to Delhi for approval. Once approved, the structures will be installed at all required locations.

DC Apoorv Devgan directed MoRTH officials to provide immediate protective measures, without waiting for committee recommendations, at locations where houses require urgent safety walls or retaining structures. He emphasised that the committee has been formed solely for examining property damage and recommending compensation, not for delaying essential safety interventions.