Kullu: Land acquisition for Aut-Luhri road widening soon

Abhinav Vashisht

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Kullu, December 14

The land acquisition process for the widening of the Aut-Luhri national highway (NH-305) is going to start soon. It was delayed due to the imposition of the model code of conduct for the Assembly elections.

Tenders for consultancy service for land acquisition and forest clearance were opened on September 9, 2021, and three companies had participated. However, these were cancelled due to technical issues and another tender was called later, but no company showed interest. Now, it has been decided that the state government will acquire land on its own and transfer it to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

KL Suman, Executive Engineer, Rampur division, NHAI, says that the government agency will identify the required private land and forestland for the widening of the road to two lanes. He adds that it will transfer the private land to the NHAI and prepare the case of forestland and get it cleared from the Forest Department for transfer to the NHAI.

“After land acquisition, a detailed project report will be prepared and sent to the higher authorities. The construction work will commence after the approval of the detailed project report,” says Suman. He says that the cost of the project is estimated to be Rs 1,563 crore. “In the first phase, land from Sainj to Kandugad will be acquired. The Revenue Department has floated tenders of Rs 5 lakh for land acquisition from the Sainj to Anni road stretch.” Suman says, “The department has completed formalities for land acquisition from Kandugad to Khanag and Ghiyagi to Banjar in the second phase.”

Nearly a decade has passed since the road was given the national highway status, but it’’s still like a link road. A bus takes six to seven hours to cover 120 km from the district headquarters, Kullu. Residents of Anni and Nirmand face difficulties in visiting the district headquarters, as the route remains closed due to snowfall during the winter, they add.

The Tribune has highlighted the issue of frequent traffic jams on the narrow stretches of the highway on multiple occasions. A large number of tourists and locals visit the Banjar, Jibhi and Tirthan valleys. Many pilgrims visit the Jalori Pass to pay obeisance at the temple and sacred lake in Seolsar.

Residents of the Kullu, Banjar, Anni and Nirmand valleys will be benefited from the highway widening. Since 2007, they have been urging the government to widen the road.