National Highway four-laning threatens houses at Kullu village

Abhinav Vashisht

KULLU, JULY 21

The residents of Chauki Dobhi village in the Kharal valley adjoining Kullu town face the threat of being rendered homeless. They alleged that cracks had developed in the walls and floors of their houses due to the work to widen the national highway on the left bank road between Jia and Ramshila to four lanes.

The residents alleged that the company executing the project had excavated the hillside to broaden the road, due to which a landslide was imminent. They say that cracks had developed in some houses and the threat of a landslide loomed over 50 houses in the village.

Villagers Nirmala Devi, Babita, Usha, Prem Sharma, Vikas and Sachin said that some of their fellow villagers had vacated their houses. They added that the rainy season had commenced and their houses had become vulnerable and could collapse anytime. They demanded that a security wall should be erected in a scientific manner at the place where the cutting had been done to stop the landslide.

State BJP vice-president and HPMC vice-chairman Ram Singh today took stock of the situation and assured the villagers that the contractor would be forced to erect a security wall to safeguard their houses. He spoke to the NHAI officials, who assured him of appropriate measures to protect the village. He advised the use of tarpaulin on the damaged portion of the hill to prevent the landslide.

The villagers said that they were having sleepless nights due to frequent landslides. They added that some of them had vacated their houses and were living in temporary sheds due to the looming threat of house collapse.

They said that they would be forced to protest if some immediate remedy was not provided to protect their houses. In 2017, many houses in Deodhar village were damaged during the cutting of a road near Ramshila.

The residents rued that no concrete measures had been taken by the NHAI to protect their houses or provide compensation for damages.

They alleged that neither the administration nor the government paid attention to their concerns, due to which they were rendered homeless.