Slope protection work on Solan National Highway stretch yet to begin

Ambika Sharma

Solan, June 28

Real-time monitoring of the fragile hill strata at vulnerable points like Chakki Mor and Datiyar on the Parwanoo-Solan section of the Chandigarh-Shimla National Highway-5 will begin soon to provide early warning to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) about landslides to help prevent losses. The requisite equipment will be inserted 100 m inside the hill slopes as well as 120 m on the valley side to monitor the movement of the strata.

The repair work has, however, been delayed and it will further be delayed with the onset of rains. “Jammu-based SRM Contractors Limited, which has been awarded the Rs 1.45 crore slope protection work on the Parwanoo-Solan section of the highway, will soon begin repair work at key vulnerable sites Chakki Mor and Datiyar,” said Anand Dahiya, Project Director, NHAI, Shimla.

As many as 26 critical locations had been identified on the 39-km stretch for repair. The Rs 1.45-crore project is slated to be completed in 18 months once it begins. “The work will begin soon after the completion of formalities by the NHAI. The contractor has already visited the site and key interventions like drone surveys will begin soon,” added Dahiya.

He said that in a bid to prevent further erosion of the sliding slopes engineering techniques like shotcrete and rock bolting will be put to use. Help has also been sought from the IIT-Patna for real-time monitoring of the vulnerable strata.”

“Technical interventions suggested by our team of experts have been corroborated by experts from the IIT-Patna and this has further put us on a firm footing about the proposed slope stability measures,” added Dahiya.

Colossal damage was caused to the highway due to the erosion of its Parwanoo-Solan section in the last monsoon season and the stretch at Chakki Mor remained closed for several days. As against the normal rainfall of 76.6 mm, the state had received 249.6 mm of rain from July 1 to 11 and cloudbursts had occurred in the vicinity of the highway, leading to flashfloods and massive landslides.