A high-powered committee meeting will be held in Shimla on Thursday to discuss problems related to National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) projects in Himachal Pradesh. The meeting will be chaired by Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kuldeep Pathania.
The Speaker said several MLAs had repeatedly raised issues about NHAI projects in the Assembly so he had called a meeting of the high-powered committee. “The directions to be issued under various enactments will be done after the meeting. Hopefully, we will be able to address issues raised by legislators and provide relief to people,” he said.
Senior officials from NHAI, the Public Works Department, the Chief Secretary, and the Director General of Police will be present during the meeting.
Public Works Minister Vikramaditya Singh said, “Since NHAI is a Government of India undertaking, the state government has no control over it, though information is sought from them from time to time.” He informed that NHAI was currently working on 800 km of road projects in the state.
"We are working in close coordination with NHAI, but road connectivity, wherever there are vulnerable sections, is getting disrupted due to landslides. It is a matter of concern that it is taking 12 hours to travel between Kullu-Mandi, which is adversely hitting farmers, fruit and flower growers," Vikramaditya added.
He said in the past three days, major damage to roads and bridges had caused huge inconvenience. About 912 machines, including JCBs, bulldozers, and robot machines, have been deployed to restore traffic movement.
The PWD Minister said, “Since the Pandoh–Kullu section often gets blocked, two alternate routes from Chail Chowk and Kataula are being widened. For this, NHAI has provided Rs 9 crore and Rs 11 crore.”
"We have to ensure the safety of not just the tourists but also protect the interests of the local people. With resilience and joint efforts, we will provide relief and address all these issues, even though the PWD has suffered Rs 1444 crore in losses in the current monsoon season," he said.
During Zero Hour, Naina Devi MLA Randhir Sharma raised the issue of traffic mismanagement on roads blocked due to landslides across the state. “In the absence of proper traffic management and timely information, hundreds of vehicles queue up on roads which are blocked. Prior information and traffic diversion by the police can help regulate traffic and avoid inconvenience to commuters,” said Sharma.
Sharma also said that toll tax should not be charged on four-lane highways that have suffered major damage.
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