Hindustan-Tibet road opens to traffic after six days

Tribune News Service

Shimla, November 2

After it remained blocked for six days due a massive landslide, the Hindustan-Tibet road (NH-5) was finally restored for vehicular movement on Thursday evening. The national highway was blocked due to a massive landslide at Nathpa area in Kinnaur district on October 27.

As heavy boulders and shooting stones kept falling over the landslide site constantly, the restoration work being carried out by the Public Works Department’s National Highway wing had been getting affected adversely, thus delaying the reopening of road for vehicular movement.

Satish Joshi, Junior Engineer, PWD NH wing at Negulsari area in Kinnaur district, said, “After continuous efforts, we have managed to re-open the national highway-5 for vehicular movement at around 4 pm on November 2. Vehicles lined up on both sides of the landslide site were allowed to pass today in the evening. We would have restored the road earlier but continuous falling of boulders and shooting stones at the landslide site disrupted the restoration work. So, as a safety measure, we had to stop the work whenever debris or boulders were falling.”

Frequent landslides in the district have become a cause for concern and a major challenge for the PWD. The department attributes landslides to excessive rainfall and the fragile strata in the area. This was the third major landslide to occur in Kinnaur district in October. After a massive landslide occurred in September, vehicular movement remained suspended for more than 12 days on the national highway.

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