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Himachal chief secretary briefs PMO about status of NHs
Chief secretary Prabodh Saxena briefed the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) about the latest status of the national highways (NHs) in Himachal Pradesh following the damages caused to the road network due to the landslides triggered by heavy rains and floods in a virtual review meeting chaired by Tarun Kapoor, adviser to the Prime Minister.
Chief secretary Prabodh Saxena briefed the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) about the latest status of the national highways (NHs) in Himachal Pradesh following the damages caused to the road network due to the landslides triggered by heavy rains and floods in a virtual review meeting chaired by Tarun Kapoor, adviser to the Prime Minister.
The chief secretary informed the PMO about the current status of the restoration of the national highway at the Kainchi Mod near Pandoh which is closed for the traffic, besides the condition of other national highways.
Kapoor has assured for a joint inspection of the damaged stretch of the NH near Pandoh at Kainchi Mod by the National Highways Authority of India, Border Roads Organisation and the state public works department soon.
Speaking about the Kullu-Manali stretch of the highway, the chief secretary said that a traffic plan has been put up in place and a window between 8 pm to 5 am has been marked for the repair and restoration works. The Centre directed the district administration to look for options to increase the window time to further speed up the restoration work. Meanwhile, the Mandi and Kullu administration has been asked to further strengthen the alternative road keeping in view the apple season.
Saxena informed the PMO that Chakki Bridge on the Pathankot-Mandi highway has been completely shut down for traffic and added that the state government has taken up the matter with the Punjab government in order to check the further erosion of riverbed so as to avoid any more damage to the inter-state bridge.
The traffic on the Shimla-Kalka route is through at all points, said the chief secretary, adding that the Chakki Mod near Parwanoo was also open for all types of vehicles. He, however, stated that there was an issue of repeated landslides at the point and a permanent solution was required for the uninterrupted flow of the traffic. He also briefed about the massive landslides that occurred at Kotrupi on Pathankot-Mandi and Namhol on Shimla-Mataur highway which have been cleared and restored for the traffic.
