Baddi-Nalagarh cut off as bridges closed
Ambika Sharma
Solan, July 10
State’s industrial hub of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN) was reduced to an island with its approach from Punjab and Haryana being cut off.
The problem was aggravated with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) closing all bridges for the traffic in view of the damage to the structures.
While the bridge at Marrawala had caved in last evening, another bridge at Balad lying on the Haryana-Himachal border was also closed for traffic following heavy flow of water in the river. This prohibited the entry of vehicles coming from Pinjore and Chandigarh to the BBN area.
Yet another bridge at Baddi near Lakkar Depot, which connects Pinjore to Barotiwala, was also closed for traffic owing to anticipated damage.
Some cracks were observed on the bridge near Dhabota barrier on the Bharatgarh-Nalagarh road bordering Punjab this afternoon. The Baddi police has advised the residents not to use the bridge to avoid any eventuality. Since other routes leading to Punjab were also blocked it cut off the area from Punjab.
The Baddi- Swarghat National Highway (NH)-105 was blocked between Goljamala and Jhiriwala and near Mahadev Gaushala as the under- construction bridges were damaged due to the heavy rain. In view of this, vehicular traffic from Swarghat was diverted from Nalagarh to Bharatgarh. Similarly, vehicles coming from Swarghat were diverted towards Kiratpur Sahib from Swarghat and diverted from Panjehra to Bharatgarh. This created an undue hassle for the motorists as they had to take longer detours to reach their destination. Charniya bridge on the Baddi-Pinjore highway was also damaged in the rain this afternoon.
A Bihar migrant was washed away in a seasonal nullah at Tipra village in Barotiwala industrial area today while he was trying to cross the nallah amidst heavy rain. Though the youth tried to hold himself in the heavy flow of water he failed to withstand the gushing water after a while and was washed away. He was yet to be traced.
