Landslide threat looms over Kotrupi area

Dipender Manta

Tribune News Service

Mandi, July 29

The Mandi-Pathankot national highway will be restored via Kotrupi in a few days. A landslide at Kotrupi damaged the stretch on Saturday. Last year, a massive landslide had killed 46 people on the spot.

Residents of Badvan, Ropa and Pandlahi villages near Kotrupi have been living in fear of landslides for the past three days after the district administration asked them to remain vigilant. Home Guard and police personnel have been deployed in the region to help them in case of emergency.

Due to heavy rain, the area has witnessed landslides and major parts of the road have been damaged. The district administration had set up a sensor for pre-warning of landslides at Kotrupi, which indicated that more landslides might take place in the area. In view of public safety, traffic has been halted on this route since Saturday. It has been diverted via Padhar to Nohali to Jogindernagar from the Mandi side and vehicles coming from Jogindernagar to Mandi from Ghatasani to Mandi via Katindi.

Villagers of the area have been spending sleepless nights as the area is receiving heavy rain. They are apprehensive of landslides. Puran Chand Thakur, vice-pradhan of the Urla panchayat said the district administration had provided tarpaulin to villagers and asked them to take temporary shelter in time of need. They had been asked to remain vigilant. A team of experts from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Mandi also visited the spot to take stock of the situation. They advised the district administration to channel the flow of water and debris coming on the roadside. Uday, assistant professor at IIT-Mandi, said it would take time to stabilise the layers of the earth and, thereafter, the road could be maintained for the traffic purpose. He also suggested using more sensors for pre-warning of landslides.

Kehar Singh, Chief Engineer, Public Works Department, also visited the spot to review the situation. He said the department would monitor the situation in two days and, thereafter, efforts would be made to restore the road for traffic movement at Kotrupi.

Deputy Commissioner Rugved Thakur said, “We have set up two more sensors for pre-warning of landslide in the region. Sirens have been installed to raise the alarm for nearby residents. The police and Home Guard jawans have been deployed at Kotrupi for 24-hour service to monitor the situation.” He said the authorities were monitoring the situation minutely.