Nagrota Surian-Lunj road cries for repair

Rajiv Mahajan

Nurpur, January 17

Travelling on the 12-km potholed road stretch from Nagrota Surian to Lunj in Kangra district has become a nightmare, especially at night. This badly damaged road has developed potholes which are deepening in the absence of repairs.

The Public Works Department (PWD) has not repaired the road for the past several years. Resentment is brewing among commuters, who use on this stretch to visit district headquarters at Dharamsala. It connects Nagrota Surian in Jawali subdivision of Kangra district with the 32 Meel- Ranital link road at Lunj. Tourists also use this road to visit the historical rock-cut Masroor temple and the Pong Dam Lake.

The Nagrota Surian- Lunj single road also connects Gaggal and Dharamsala. Apart from daily commuters and tourists, this road is used by stone crusher units set up at Spail and Jarpal near Nagrota Surian for transporting sand and gravel in upper area of Kangra district. The loaded double-axle commercial vehicles have damaged this single road further.

Commuters from Nagrota Surian, Spail, Bassa, Katora, Bhater, Masroor and Tungli gram panchayats in Nagrota Surian and Dehra development blocks have expressed resentment over utter neglect of this road and lack of maintenance. They rue that the PWD fills potholes with mud, which renders the road stretch even more dangerous.

Manohar Lal Sharma, Executive Engineer, PWD division, Jawali, when asked about the work this road needs, said this was a rural road and the Central Government had given approval for its upgrade under the Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). He said the PWD would float tenders for its construction soon.