Landslide hits vehicular movement on Dharamsala-Kangra highway

The vehicular movement on the Dharamsala-Kangra National Highway came to a sudden halt in the wee hours on Friday following a landslide triggered by intermittent rains that have been lashing the region since last night.

The incident caused disruption to traffic on one of the most crucial road links in the district at a time when hundreds of tourists come to Dharamsala daily from Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and other states through this route.

The landslide occurred 2.5 kilometres down of Sakoh village leading to a complete blockage of the highway for four wheelers. Fortunately, there was no report of any casualty or injury. However, commuters travelling between Dharamsala and Kangra faced long delays amid rainfall, which was still continuing at the time of writing this news report.

In the wake of the blockage, the traffic going from Dharamsala towards Kangra was diverted via Sheela link road through Mataur town.

Vivek Sandhu, Assistant Executive Engineer with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) stationed at Shahpur, said that steps were taken to clear the debris after coming to know about this incident.

“We have restored the NH for traffic in the afternoon by deploying JCB machines but the commuters should be careful as the road is slippery on the spot,” the NHAI official said.

The landslide-hit portion of the road was still vulnerable to land slips.

Meanwhile, Dharamsala, McLeodganj and the adjoining areas continue to experience intermittent rains. The misty atmosphere has engulfed the region.

The Meteorological Department has predicted continued rainfall in parts of the Kangra district over the next 24 hours.