Sangla-Chitkul stretch prone to accidents

Bhanu P Lohumi

Shimla, October 13

The 22-km-long single lane Sangla-Chitkul steep stretch in Kinnaur district snaking through the sharp curves on un-metalled road without crash barriers is not only accident prone but also vulnerable to slides.

A large number of people, especially tourists, make a beeline to Chitkul village (the last Indian village located at an altitude of 11.320 feet). As many as 12 persons have died in five major accidents in the past five years on this stretch.

Going for a wedding at Batseri turned out to be the last trip for Ramesh and his three friends who died in a car accident as the car they were travelling in rolled 50 metres down the road near Batseri on November 14, 2021.

Minimum 2-3 accidents occur every year on the spot. There is a dire need to install crash barriers on the valley side. The move would save small vehicles and reduce the number of fatalities, said Anup Negi, a resident of Sangla.

It was a horrible drive to Chitkul on a narrow kacha road full of potholes. Giving pass to other vehicles was a nightmare, said Yash from Shimla, who recently returned from Chitkul.

There are several vulnerable spots which are prone to landslides/shooting stones and glaciers. Such spots are at Kupa, Batseri and Mastrang and the road is damaged every year, said SDM Kalpa, Shashank Gupta.

Directions have been issued to the Public Works Department (PWD) to install crash barriers at black spots. Patch work is being done on this stretch, said Deputy Commissioner Kinnaur, Abid Hussain Sadiq.

As many as 150 persons were killed in 129 ran-off accidents in the past five years from 2017-2021 in Kinnaur while eight persons died and 11 sustained injuries in six ran-off accidents in the first six months of this year.

Srimati Dhank, Malling Nala, Rispa Jhulla, Brua curve, Batseri village and Nigulsari sliding point are some of the major accident-prone stretches in the district identified by the police witnessing roll-down accidents.