Sirmaur to get first four-lane highway, work to begin soon
Sirmaur, the home district of Himachal Pradesh’s first Chief Minister, Dr Yashwant Singh Parmar, will soon see the construction of its first four-lane highway. The 51-km highway, part of National Highway 7 (NH-07), will span from Kala Amb, an industrial hub near the state’s border, to Bata Bridge near Paonta Sahib. The project has received approval from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) for the 2024-25 annual working plan.
The highway will be built in three phases, with the first phase covering the stretch from Kala Amb to Khajurna Bridge, the second from Khajurna to Dhaulakuan, and the third from Dhaulakuan to Bata Bridge. The third phase, spanning 14.3 km, is the first to receive official approval, with land acquisition already underway. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is preparing to float tenders for construction.
The project is expected to greatly improve connectivity for travellers between Himachal Pradesh and neighboring states like Uttarakhand, Haryana and Chandigarh, reducing travel times and boosting regional trade and tourism. The smoother and faster commute will benefit both local residents and businesses, as the road will facilitate easier access to various destinations.
Officials from the NHAI explained that the third phase was approved quickly because 70 to 80 percent of the land for this stretch was already owned by the NHAI. This reduced the amount of land acquisition needed to around 20 to 30 per cent. Additionally, the terrain in this section is relatively flat, making construction simpler compared to the hilly areas of the other two phases.
The NHAI’s Nahan division has been coordinating with various departments, including the electricity board, water and irrigation departments and the BSNL, to ensure that necessary infrastructure like electric poles, water pipelines and communication towers are shifted to make way for the highway. These departments have been instructed to provide cost estimates for moving their facilities to ensure the construction proceeds smoothly.
The highway will be built with a width ranging from 30 to 40 metres, and in some areas, the width will extend up to 120 feet. In hilly sections, vehicle speeds will be limited to between 40 and 60 km per hour, while in flatter areas, such as the section from Kala Amb to Paonta Sahib, vehicles will be able to travel at speeds of up to 90 km per hour.
NHAI SDO Nitish Sharma confirmed that all formalities for the project’s third phase had been completed and that construction would commence soon after the tendering process is finalised. He emphasised that the ongoing land acquisition signals the imminent start of the project, with work expected to begin shortly.
