Work on Kangra-Shimla four-lane project gets underway
Ravinder Sood
Palampur, April 2
The construction on phase one of the Kangra-Shimla four-lane project between Kangra and Ranital has begun.
Abdul Basit, head of the NHAI projects in Himachal Pradesh, while talking to The Tribune, said the construction of the 225-km highway project had been divided into five packages. The NHAI had hired a consultancy company for carrying out a survey for the preparation of DPRs, which had already completed its job.
Grid-based road technology
Keeping in mind the fragile hills of the state and repeated landslides on highways, the Kangra-Shimla highway project will be the first NH to be constructed by using grid-based road technology. The grid-based technology saves hills from vertical cutting. The first lane is constructed on a higher slope and the second at a lower slope. —Abdul Basit, NHAI head
The project, when completed, will reduce the distance by 45 km (from 225 km to 180 km), he said. “The stretch will have nine tunnels and four high-rise bridges. It will bypass major towns like Darlaghat, Bilaspur, Hamirpur and Jwalamukhi. There will be three toll plazas at Ghanatti, Hamirpur and Jwalamukhi. The speed limit would be 60 km per hour and the travel time will be reduced from six hours to four hours if going by car. Fuel consumption will also come down. Besides, the lesser curves on the highway will reduce the accident rate, providing more safety to road users. The longest tunnel will be between Shalaghat and Piplu Ghat”, he further stated.
“Keeping in mind the fragile hills of the state and repeated landslides on highways, the Kangra-Shimla highway project would be the first to be constructed by using grid-based road technology. This will reduce the maintenance cost and provide safe passage. The grid-based technology saves hills from vertical cutting. The first lane is constructed on a higher slope and the second lane at a lower slope. This makes a grid of two separate roads running parallel on the hills.” he said. Soon after taking over as Chief Minister, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had called on Union Surface Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and demanded early completion of all the four-lane projects in Himachal.
The NHAI will use the maximum length of the existing NH-88 (now renamed NH-103), though it will bypass major bottlenecks and towns to avoid displacement of people. Once the project work is awarded, the construction will be completed in three years.
The 225-km long four-lane project, when completed, will reduce the distance between Kangra and Shimla by 45 kilometres. It is a dream project of the Chief Minister since it passes through his home constituency Nadaun in Hamirpur district. One of the most ambitious four-lane highway projects of the Government of India, it will pass through high mountains spread over five districts.
