Landslide sweeps away 400m stretch, Kinnaur cut off

Tribune News Service

Shimla, September 8

A massive landslide on Thursday night snapped the road connectivity to Kinnaur district via the NH-5. The landslide washed away a major portion of the NH-5 at the landslide-prone Nigulsari area of Nichar block in Kinnaur, leaving the entire district cut off. As vehicular movement had been stopped on the stretch a few hours before the landslide, there was no loss of life.

No loss of life

• The landslide washed away a major portion of the NH-5 in the Nigulsari area of Nichar block in Kinnaur
• As vehicular movement had been stopped on the stretch a few hours before the landslide, there was no loss of life

“Around 400m road has been washed away in the landslide. The road has gone down 100 metres or more. The restoration work has started, but it will take at least a week for us to restore the road for traffic,” said an NHAI official from the spot.

“The road had been sinking for a while. A huge landslide around 11 pm led to the collapse of the entire stretch,” the official said. The local administration has started a langar on both sides of the damaged stretch to provide food to stranded passengers. “We are also providing accommodation to people who are stuck. As per a rough estimate, around 70 tourists are stuck here. Also, we are providing bus service to people from either side of the damaged stretch,” said Chander Mohan Thakur, Tehsildar, Nichar.

Even as there has been no loss of life, a few residents of the Tranda panchayat, in which the area falls, have lost some agricultural land.

Meanwhile, Horticulture Minister Jagat Negi visited the spot and directed officials to set up span facility across the damaged stretch so that apple and peas could be transported to mandis.

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