Potholed Kala Amb-Paonta Sahib road poses threat to daily commuters

Travelling on the Kala Amb-Paonta Sahib stretch of the National Highway-07 is no less than a nightmare for thousands of daily commuters. The condition of the road that links Dehradun in Uttarakhand with Chandigarh via Sirmaur district is full of potholes and badly damaged.

Its condition has worsened over the past six months and the Kala Amb-Aamwala Sainwala stretch now resembles a damaged link road. The once 15-minute drive from Kala Amb to Aamwala Sainwala now takes over an hour, forcing travellers to endure a bone-jarring ride through endless craters.

While roads in neighbouring Haryana and Uttarakhand are smooth and well-maintained, vehicles crossing into Sirmaur district are welcomed onto a bumpy and badly-damaged road.

The highway is considered an important link between Himachal Pradesh and neighbouring Haryana and Uttarakhand. It serves as a major corridor linking Dehradun with Chandigarh and witnesses over 10,000 vehicles every day but its maintenance has been grossly inadequate. The Nahan division of the National Highways Department has been unable to carry out meaningful repair of the damaged road.

The highway is earmarked for widening to four lanes but the project is stuck due to pending budgetary approvals and forest clearances. Meanwhile, the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and the local highway division appear to have turned a blind eye to the plight of the public.

Meanwhile, Nitish Sharma, Assistant Engineer, National Highways Division, Nahan, acknowledges the poor condition of the highway stretch. He says that a detailed project report (DPR) has been submitted to the Union Ministry of Highways to bring the Kala Amb-Kansiwala road stretch under the Performance-Based Maintenance Contract (PBMC). “Once the Union Ministry grants approval, the repair and maintenance work will be initiated,” he added.

Until then, for thousands of commuters plying between Himachal, Haryana and Uttarakhand, travelling on the National Highway-07 will continue to be risky.