Plumes of dust on Nalagarh national highway irk commuters

Ambika Sharma

Solan, October 15

With no provision to sprinkle water on the under-construction Pinjore-Nalagarh national highway, which is being four-laned, the commuters have to battle plumes of dust while travelling on the road.

While the air quality in the industrial area did not match the national ambient air quality norms even in the past, it has worsened after the work began to widen the highway.

The prevailing dry weather has aggravated the condition as the private company engaged in the four-laning work is taking no measures to settle the dust.

Gujarat-based Patel Infrastructure Limited has undertaken the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) model of the project as part of the Bharatmala Pariyojana.

Since the road links other parts of the state with the industrial hub of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh, which houses 90 per cent of the state’s industry, the highway witnesses movement of thousands of vehicles every day.

The Rs 469-crore project to widen the highway begun last year. “We are compelled to keep the windows of our vehicles shut to save ourselves from heavy dust. The magnitude of the dust being generated has increased manifold over the past few days as the rain has subsided. Unless there is an urgent work, the employees at our company prefer to remain indoors during the day,” rued Sudhir, an employee at a Baddi industrial unit.

As thousands of trees have been axed for the project, the green cover has been badly depleted in the area. The situation worsens in the evenings when the workers head for their homes after the day’s work.

The situation has aggravated as the bridges at Balad and Charnia are damaged. The temporary road carved out on the dry riverbeds generates heavy dust as vehicles cross the unmetalled path.

Praveen Gupta, Chief Environmental Engineer at the State Pollution Control Board, Baddi, said the private company widening the highway would be directed to undertake measures like sprinkling water at regular intervals to settle dust.

A 36-km stretch from Pinjore to Nalagarh is to be widened to four lanes. As much as 17.37 km of it lies in Himachal, while the remaining portion of the highway is in Haryana.