Ramshehar-Shimla highway caves in due to heavy rain

bika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Solan, September 4

Vehicular traffic was today diverted through link roads after the Ramshehar-Kunihar-Sayri-Shimla main road caved in at Sayri in Kandaghat subdivision of Solan district on Friday evening following incessant rain. About a 30-metre portion of the road has eroded and cracks are visible on the surface, which is hanging precariously.

Buses plying on the road were diverted through the Paoghati-Shal Chanog-Mamligh route while smaller vehicles were directed onto other link roads. Commuters from as far as Nalagarh subdivision use this route to reach Shimla, besides those from Arki in Solan district. It is also used by students to go to their educational institutes.

Kandaghat SDM Vikas Sood said vehicles were being diverted through link roads. He added that the naib tehsildar visited the spot to take stock of the situation.

Meanwhile, Public Works Department (PWD) staff began the work to restore the road. Executive Engineer, PWD, Kunihar, Ravi Kapur, said, “A 30-m stretch of the Sayri-Shimla main road caved in following incessant rain last evening. Cracks are visible on this old road, which requires repairs. An estimate of Rs 50 lakh had been prepared for the repair work, which could not begin due to the lack of funds. Some protection work was to be undertaken from September 15 after rains subside but a downpour eroded the road last evening”.

He said, “The restoration work has been initiated and if the weather remains clear, the road will be opened for traffic within a fortnight”.

Sandeep Kanwar, a local resident, said, “The PWD did not pay attention to the road, which was sinking for the past several years. Timely repair would have averted the mishap, as students and farmers would now face inconvenience. Patients, who require specialty care and have to be shifted to Shimla, will also suffer”.