Pangi (Kinnaur), August 7
A massive landslide, allegedly triggered by intense blasting at Pangi village, near Reckong Peo, district headquarters of Kinnaur, on Monday morning damaged a 200-m stretch of the old Hindustan-Tibet road, commonly known as the mule track, and blocked the new Hindustan-Tibet road (NH-22) for many hours.
As the landslide is still continuing, many houses face the danger of being damaged. Around 10 houses have been got vacated and families shifted to a safer place by the local gram panchayat.
Senior officials of the local administration and local MLA Jagat Singh Negi visited the spot to monitor the situation.
No one was hurt in the landslide but several buses, trucks and light vehicles remained stranded on the mountainous route of the Hindustan-Tibet road for almost half of the day before the General Reserve Engineering Force (GREF) cleared the debris in the afternoon, said Major H.S. Ghotra, Assistant Executive Engineer of the GREF.
Mr Gurdeep Singh, chief of the Pangi gram panchayat, said the landslide occurred due to intense blasting by the Public Works Department, which is widening the old Hindustan-Tibet road, and the state electricity board, which is constructing a tunnel right under that area for its 272 MW Kasham Hydroelectric Power Project.
He said 10 families had been evacuated from their houses.
