Baddi-Nalagarh highway stretch turns death trap

Ambika Sharma

Solan, May 3

The under-construction Baddi-Nalagarh national highway has become a death trap with 44 fatalities occurring on this stretch in the past 15 months. Just 8 per cent of the four-laning work, which began last year, has been completed till now.

Police records say 151 road accidents took place in Baddi police district in 2022. Of these, 75 occurred on the national highway with 39 persons losing their lives and 90 suffering from injuries. This year till March, 14 of the 45 accidents in Baddi took place on the highway. The highway mishaps resulted in five fatalities and injuries to 11.

The NH-105 has several broken and potholed stretches that are vulnerable to accidents. As little repair work has been undertaken since the four-laning began, the condition of the highway has deteriorated over the past one year. With nearly 50 per cent of the accidents in Baddi occurring on the highway, the police have stepped up measures to prevent them. Places such as Khera, Kishenpura, Bhud, Harraipur, Kirpalpur, Manpura and Sandholi have been identified as vulnerable spots and categorised under ‘severe’ to ‘very severe’ areas on the Baddi-Nalagarh highway.

Baddi DSP Priyank Gupta said: “The issue of increasing accidents on the Baddi-Nalagarh national highway is being regularly taken up with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) as the large number of fatalities is a cause of concern. Several vulnerable spots, including potholed stretches, are being repaired by the NHAI.”

He said a majority of the accident victims were bike riders as they indulged in violations like triple-riding and overtaking heavy vehicles from the wrong side. This often proves fatal as the highway carries a voluminous flow of traffic with nearly 10,000 vehicles, he added.