One killed in car-Volvo collision on NH-03 near Manali

A man was killed when his Alto car (HP-58-8048) collided with an HRTC Volvo bus near Aloo Ground near Manali on the Kullu-Manali national highway (NH-03) today.

According to information, the bus was coming from Manali, while the car was approaching from the Kullu side when there was a head-on collision between the two vehicles due to high speed.

The sole occupant of the car, Keshav Ram (54), of Chuchal village of the Paddhar subdivision of Mandi district fell unconscious on the spot. Bystanders hurried the victim to a Manali hospital in an ambulance, but he was declared dead. The police have registered a case and investigation is on in this regard.

‘A wasted effort’

If the four-laning of the Kullu-Manali stretch was not possible, why did the NHAI acquire the land and waste public money? Now only this stretch of 37 km has two lanes on the four-lane Kiratpur-Manali NH, which is 196-km-long and connects strategically important Manali-Leh NH. — Mahinder, Kullu resident

Meanwhile, residents of Kullu and Manali lamented that while the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had acquired land for expanding the Kullu-Manali NH to four lanes, but later, giving the reason of topographical considerations, it was only made of two lanes.

A Kullu resident Mahinder alleged, “If the four-laning of the Kullu-Manali stretch was not possible, why did the NHAI acquire the land and waste public money? Now only this stretch of 37 km has two lanes on the four-lane Kiratpur-Manali NH which is 196-km-long and connects strategically important Manali-Leh NH.”

Sushil, a tourism beneficiary of Manali town, said, “The number of fatal accidents on the Kullu-Manali NH had increased after the completion of the widening work and the tarring of the double lanes of the NH was accomplished in 2019. The road was washed away in many portions due to floods in July last year and many bottlenecks had resulted. Due to this, it has become riskier to commute on this stretch.”

Dheeraj, a resident of Katrain village, said now the NHAI was planning the restoration of the NH after the floods for long-term protection to prevent devastation by floods. He said, “The NHAI should also carry out the four-laning of the stretch side by side so that accidents can be minimised and wasted public money was put to use for the convenience of the masses.”

Vishal of Kullu alleged that luxury buses were very wide and fast and these did not allow any overtaking and were usually stuck in bottlenecks. He said, “This causes undue problems for commuters.

Widening the road to four lanes will not only make commuting safe but also reduce travel time. The stretch is having almost similar geographical conditions like Mandi-Kullu NH and if that is being widened to four lanes, the Kullu-Mandi stretch can also be widened.” He added that land must have been procured by the NHAI after thorough surveys and project reports and only political will was required to widen the NH.