Despite warnings, hills being razed along Kangra highways

Dharamsala, March 19

Hills along the national and state highways in Kangra district are being razed with impunity, raising a threat of landslides during monsoon.

Private landowners are engaged in the levelling of hills from the Gaggal airport to Dharamsala for development despite warnings from geologists, threatening the hill strata on the national highway.

Geologists like Prof AK Mahajan from the Central University of Himachal Pradesh have warned the district administration that unscientific razing of hills along the roads might make permanent landslide zones in the region.

Sanjay Kumbkarni, former scientist from the Geological Survey of India (GSI), says the area falls in seismic zone V in terms of seismic activity. There is a conspicuous funnelling of the thrusts in the Dharamsala-Dharamkot area. The most active of these is the Shali Thrust that passes through the Dharamsala-McLeodganj area.

He further said tertiary rocks with ages between 66 million years and 2.6 million years along the Shali Thrust suffer extensive slumping, land sliding and land degradation and stability is only achieved as one goes away from the thrust zone. This and several other scientific evidences prove beyond any doubt that the thrust zone is still dynamic.

The track of Dharamsala- McLeodganj is a victim of neo-tectonism (recent ongoing activity) of this thrust. Rampant construction, especially in the McLeodganj-Dharamkot area, is adding to the burden. It is a disaster waiting to happen, he said.

After the sinking of land in the Joshimath area of Uttarakhand, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had directed the authorities to map areas that are prone to landslides. Despite the concern expressed by the Chief Minister, steps have hardly been taken to check the levelling of hills along the national and state highways.

Sources in the PWD say under the Himachal Pradesh Roadside Control Act, no construction can be carried out within five metres of the national and state highways. However, the Act was being blatantly violated in the district.

The geologists have also expressed concern that lose soil that is dumped along the slopes of hills after levelling is a major cause of landslides in the monsoon season. Last year many roads leading to Dharamsala were blocked during rains due to landslides.

NP Singh, Chief Engineer, PWD, Dharamsala, when asked, said if a road was damaged due to levelling of hills by private land owners, a fine was imposed on them. In some cases an FIR was also registered against the offenders.

Kangra Deputy Commissioner Nipun Jindal said he would write to the NHAI and the state PWD authorities to take strictest possible action against those levelling hills along the roads.