Pathankot-Mandi NH turns nightmare for commuters

Long traffic jams on the narrow Pathankot-Mandi National Highway have become a routine these days, causing inconvenience to thousands of tourists, locals and commuters.

Besides, fatal accidents have become frequent on the narrow road. On Saturday, three persons were killed near Thanpuri when a bus hit two-wheeler riders on a narrow stretch of the highway.

Earlier, two bikers were killed near Nagrota Bagwan. At least one dozen persons have lost their lives in different accidents on the highway in the past three months.

One can see long queues of vehicles at Baijnath, Paprola, Maranda, Nagrota Bagwan, 53 Mile, Mattor and Gaggal. There have been instances when many people have missed their flights to Delhi and Chandigarh from the Gaggal airport because of the long snarl-ups on the highway. Meanwhile, there is a thin presence of traffic police at these places. The residents of these towns complain that they are fed up with the current situation as traffic jams have adversely affected their business. Talking to The Tribune, a senior police officer said a number of traffic constables were deputed in these towns to manage traffic. But since this is one of the busiest roads of the lower hills of the state and the traffic had increased manifold, the police too are helpless in ensuring smooth movement of vehicles, especially on the weekend.

The Centre had announced plans for converting the narrow Pathankot-Mandi NH into four lanes because of the high volume of traffic. However, the project had been delayed by three years due to official bottlenecks and the lack of cooperation by the local authorities.

Notably, the authorities are yet to take up land acquisition between Paror and Padhar. This has virtually put the strategic Pathankot-Mandi four-lane project, estimated to cost Rs 8,000 crore, on hold, causing great hardship to the residents of six districts of the lower hills of the state.

Bottlenecks delay expansion

• The Centre had announced plans for converting the narrow Pathankot-Mandi National Highway into four lanes.
• However, the project had been delayed by three years due to official bottlenecks and the lack of cooperation by the local authorities.
• They are yet to take up land acquisition between Paror and Padhar, virtually putting the Rs 8,000 crore Pathankot-Mandi four-lane project on hold.