Decades of administrative apathy, policy contradictions and sustained neglect scripted a tragic tale at Haripurdhar, where 14 persons were killed and 68 others were injured in a private bus accident on Major District Road (MDR)-03 in Sirmaur district.
The accident has once again brought the dangerously dilapidated condition of the Solan-Sanaura-Meenus road under sharp public scrutiny, with locals and daily commuters asserting that the tragedy was waiting to happen, as repeated accidents on this stretch over the years have been caused not merely by driver error, but by an outdated, unsafe and long-neglected road.
Much of this road passes through the home turf of Pradesh Congress Committee president Vinay Kumar, a three-time congress MLA from Renukaji, a constituency earlier represented for six terms by his father, late Dr Prem Singh.
Constructed between 1958 and 1962, the nearly 115-km-long stretch from Sanaura to Meenus road remains largely unchanged even as 2026 begins, a gap of nearly 64 years without any major structural upgradation.
The road is the only lifeline for over two lakh rural and tribal residents of the Trans-Giri region, connecting Shillai, Ronhat, Haripurdhar, Sangrah, Nohradhar, Rajgarh and adjoining areas of Shimla district including Kupvi and Uttarakhand’s Jaunsar Bawar with Shimla, Solan and Chandigarh.
Standing near the accident site, daily commuters pointed towards narrow curves, broken edges and the absence of safety barriers. “Accidents keep happening here because the road is too narrow and broken.
Two vehicles cannot cross safely at many points. One small mistake and the vehicle slips into the gorge,” said Ramesh Chauhan, a resident of Nohradhar who travels this route weekly for work.
Another commuter, Sunita Devi from Sangrah, said winter conditions make the situation worse. “During frost, the road becomes like glass.
There are no crash barriers, no warning signs. We travel with fear every day, but we have no other option,” she said.
Ironically, the importance of this road was officially recognised in 2016, when the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways declared the Sanaura-Meenus stretch a national highway.
In 2018, a private agency was hired to conduct a preliminary alignment survey and funds were sought from MoRTH for preparation of a Detailed Project Report.
According to the local residents despite this, the state government, in the same year as the national highway declaration, downgraded the road from State Highway to a Major District Road, a move that locals say stalled all hopes of widening and safety upgrades.
“When the Centre declared it a National Highway, we thought things would improve. Instead, the road was downgraded and forgotten,” said Rahul, a local bus operator.
The road width remains just 4 to 5 metres at most stretches, even though the Public Works Department acquired land for a 22-metre width and paid compensation to landowners in the 1970s and 1980s. Accident-prone black spots still lack crash barriers and parapets.
Small roadside temples built at regular stretches in memory of accident victims line the route, serving as silent reminders of repeated tragedies. “These temples are not for devotion, they are warnings,” said Bheem Singh Thakur a shopkeeper near Haripurdhar.
Well known social worker of Nohradhar, Lala Tulsi Ram Chauhan and Pradeep Singta, president of Hatte Vikas Manch, said repeated representations were made to the Centre, the state government and PWD officials demanding urgent improvement of the road.
“This accident should be the last warning. People deserve safe roads, not condolences,” they said.
For daily commuters, the demand is simple and urgent: if justice is to mean anything for the victims, the government must answer one hard question: who will be held responsible for turning a lifeline into a graveyard?
