Water seepage from hills hits traffic flow on busy Kumarhatti flyover

Tribune News Service

Ambika Sharma

Solan, April 17

Water seepage from hills have reduced the utility of a flyover at Kumarhatti that is frequently damaged and is closed for traffic every now and then. The flyover helps to bypass the Kumarhatti junction where four roads converge. Commuters coming from Shimla, Barog, Nahan and Dharampur use the flyover to avoid traffic hassles occurring due to the presence of four roads at the junction.

Water seepage from hills overlooking the flyover, which was constructed three years ago, has become a cause for concern for the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which had executed the project to widen the highway to four lanes.

Four roads converge on the junction

• This flyover is part of the work undertaken to widen the 39-km stretch of the Parwanoo-Solan highway, which was completed in 2021
• This is the first flyover to be constructed over the Parwanoo-Shimla National Highway-5, which is being widened to four lanes in phases
• Water seepage has rendered one lane of the two-lane flyover unfit for commuting
• Commuters coming from Shimla, Barog, Nahan and Dharampur use it to avoid traffic hassles occurring due to the presence of four roads at the junction

The presence of water damages slabs laid on the flyover every now and then, rendering one of the two-lane flyover unfit for commuting. It has been under constant repair for the past few months. Big depressions have developed owing to the erosion of the slabs.

This flyover is part of the work to widen the 39-km stretch of the Parwanoo-Solan highway which was completed in 2021. This is the first flyover to be constructed over the Parwanoo-Shimla National Highway-5, which was being widened to four lanes in phases.

Project Director, NHAI, Anand Dahiya, says, “A slab of the flyover at Kumarhatti has developed depression owing to water seepage from the hills. Therefore, it has been closed for vehicular traffic to avoid further damage. GR Infraprojects, which had executed the project to widen this section of the highway to four lanes, was treating the damaged portion.”

The presence of hills on both sides of the flyover has made it vulnerable to the percolation of water. A drain above the flyover alongside hills has aggravated the situation.

The NHAI is trying to create a continuous service lane along the highway abutting the flyover to facilitate commuters. The service lane exists only from the Kumarhatti side while motorists coming from Dharampur do not have this facility. Dahiya adds that the presence of defence land has hampered the construction of a continuous approach road. The defence authorities have now agreed to provide land for the purpose for which various approvals are being obtained.

In 2022, a 50-m stretch of the approach road at Shamlech village on the Solan-Shimla section of the national highway leading to the tunnel had caved in due to extensive damage caused by water seepage.

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