Traffic restored on Chandigarh-Shimla highway after landslide cleared

National Highway 22 was blocked since the landslide occurred at 9pm on Monday night; NHAI engineers supervised the clearing of the site near Kandaghat in Solan district where cracks have developed on the road

Traffic on the Chandigarh-Shimla national highway number 22 was restored on Tuesday afternoon after the landslide in Himachal Pradesh’s Solan district on Monday night was cleared.

A tipper of the National Highway Authority of India near the landslide-hit site at Kandaghat in Solan district on the Chandigarh-Shimla highway that was repaired before traffic was restored on Tuesday afternoon. The landslide occurred around 9pm on Monday. (HT Photo)

“The traffic has been restored on the highway. The landslide that occurred around 9pm on Monday was cleared around 2pm on Tuesday. Cracks have developed on the road after the landslide at Kiari Bangla near Kandaghat. The road has sunk on the stretch ,” Shimla deputy commissioner Amit Kashyap said.

Traffic to Shimla was earlier diverted through lateral roads connecting Shimla and Kandaghat via Sadhupul.

The police had advised people to use alternate routes of Kufri-Kandaghat, Mehli-Kandaghat via Junga and Tutu to Kunihar to avoid inconvenience. Similarly, people coming from Rampur, Rohru, Kotkhai and Chopal were asked to take the Chhaila to Solan route via Neripul and Giripul, they said.

The supply of essential commodities, including milk, to the state capital of Shimla was delayed on Tuesday morning as vehicles were diverted via Kunihar.

Cracks surface on the road stretch near Kandaghat, where four-laning of the highway is underway.

WORK IN PROGRESS ON STRETCH

A high-level team of engineers was at the spot to find ways to restore the sinking stretch of the highway.

NH-22 is a key highway that connects Ferozepur in Punjab with Shipki La on the Indo-China border in Himachal Pradesh’s Kinnaur district.

The landslide had affected the movement of army vehicles.