Rains nearing, 32 landslide-prone sites on Parwanoo-Solan stretch

Ambika Sharma

Solan, June 27

Thirty-two sites prone to landslides have been identified on the Parwanoo-Solan stretch of the Chandigarh-Shimla National Highway-5 where four-laning work was completed in June last year.

These sites pose a threat to motorists during monsoon when loose strata flows onto the road along with boulders. Several fatalities have been reported in the past when people and vehicles were buried under debris. A Nangal resident was killed after his vehicle was hit by boulders near Solan in 2016. Though fatalities have been reported every monsoon since the four-laning work began in 2015, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is yet to initiate concrete protection measures.

Breast walls of merely 1.5 to 3 metres have been erected even as the slopes along the NH have been excavated up to 15 to 20 metres. Wire-netting is being done to stabilise the slope near Sanwara toll plaza where a large number of vehicles queue up. To contain landslides, a geo-tagging survey of such sites was being undertaken, said an NHAI official.

NHAI Project Director Ram Asra said soil samples of all the 32 sites were being tested to devise a suitable solution. “Remedial measures will be taken after the rainy season. Similar spots will also be studied on the 22.91-km stretch from Chambaghat to Kaithlighat where 51 per cent of the four-laning work has been completed,” he said.

Balwinder Singh, project in-charge of GR Infraprojects, the company that was assigned the Parwanoo-Solan four-laning project, said, “We have positioned labour and machinery at vulnerable spots for immediate clearance of landslides. Signages warning the motorists are also being erected.”

4-laning done, but no safety measures yet

• The NHAI is yet to initiate concrete steps to tackle landslides
• The four-laning work on the stretch completed in June 2021
• The NHAI says safety measures to be taken after rainy season