Palampur-Baijnath road closed for traffic

Ravinder Sood

Palampur, August 17

The Palampur-Baijnath Highway has been closed for vehicular traffic following a collapse of a culvert near the local sabzi mandi on Friday night. The administration has diverted the vehicular traffic via Palampur-Kalu di Hatti byepass. People have been asked to follow the Kalu Di Hatti byepass to enter and exit Palampur till further orders. The administration has put up a barrier at Kalu Di Hatti for diverting vehicles coming from Pathankot- Amritsar and Jammu on way to Jogindernagar, Baijnath, Kullu-Manali, Leh and Shimla.

A senior officer of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) told The Tribune that it would take two to three days for the re-construction of the culvert and restoration of vehicular traffic. He said the contractor had been directed to work round the clock for completion of the job.

Meanwhile, a long queues of vehicles were seen at Kalu Di Hatti resulting in traffic jams because of the narrow passage and the poor management by the traffic police. Besides, parking woes also led to traffic snarls. School buses were also seen held up causing inconvenience to schoolchildren.

The culvert which collapsed near the sabzi mandi was constructed in the British era almost eighty years ago. The culvert was neither repaired nor replaced with a new one by the HP Public Works Department or the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) despite manifold increase in vehicular traffic.

There are over 100 bridges on the Pathankot-Mandi National Highway constructed during the British rule. Many have been declared unsafe. With the manifold increase in the traffic on the highway, these bridges could collapse any time. Also, due to bridges being narrow, traffic jams have become a routine at various places.

After 2016, the road was taken over by the NHAI which looks after its maintainenance. But, so far, no plans have been made for widening or replacing these bridges.

The bridge on the narrow curve near Mattor (Kangra) and Kalu Di Hatti opposite the petrol pump on the national highway have become major black spots where a number of people have lost their lives. with light vehicles and two-wheelers mainly bearing the brunt, three persons have lost their lives at this point in the past six months.