The repair work being undertaken on the busy Mandi-Pathankot highway by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) at Thakurdwara near Palampur is leading to frequent traffic jams and causing considerable inconvenience to commuters, tourists and local residents.
The ongoing work on the congested highway is resulting in long queues of vehicles, particularly during peak hours. The business of local shopkeepers have also been adversely affected, as the road dug up for repairs has restricted access to their establishments.
The Mandi-Pathankot highway is a vital arterial road that carries heavy traffic towards Mandi, Kullu-Manali, Shimla and Leh and Ladakh. The highway witnesses constant movement of buses, trucks, private vehicles and tourist traffic.
NHAI Project Director Umakant Meena says that that the repair work has been held up due to water pipelines and telephone cables passing beneath the road. He adds that the NHAI has requested the Irrigation and Public Health and Telecom departments to shift the pipelines and cables, which have not yet been relocated.
Local residents Sahil Sunny and Sanjiv Baghla say that the NHAI should not have dug up the highway without first ensuring that the underground utilities have been shifted. They add that there should have been proper coordination among various departments before the road was dug up. “If there was no immediate possibility of shifting pipelines and cables, why was the road dug up?” they ask.
They say that the situation is causing hardships to hundreds of commuters and tourists travelling on the highway. This traffic bottleneck is also affecting local businesses and creating difficulties for residents living and working along the road stretch.
Residents and commuters have urged the NHAI and the departments concerned to coordinate and restore the road on priority. They have also sought effective traffic management at the site, particularly during peak hours, to prevent prolonged traffic jams.
As heavy traffic towards major tourist destinations is expected to continue, commuters fear that any further delay in completing the repair work can aggravate the situation.
