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Tribune News Service
Mandi, July 22
Roadside parking of vehicles, narrow sharp curve between Manali and Aut and the area being landslide prone are major causes of traffic chaos and road accidents in Mandi district.
The Municipal council Mandi has failed to develop parking lots in Mandi town and its adjoining areas. As a result, vehicles can be seen parked on the roadside in a haphazard manner almost everywhere, causing long traffic jams. Besides, disrupting smooth flow of traffic, the jams pose risk to pedestrians. There was a proposal to set up a multi-level parking structure in Mandi town to tide over parking problem but no progress has been made on the project till now.
The road leading to Manali from Sundernagar ahead is considered unsafe during rainy season. The area between Sundernagar and Aut is particularly dangerous as it becomes prone to landslides. In the past, several incidents have been reported where landslide caused fatalities. Unscientific cutting of hills by the NHAI from Pandoh ahead up to Aut is reported to be the key reason for the landslides.
Construction work of the Chandigarh-Manali fourlane project is going on. Due to deep cutting of the hills and blasting, the land strata has become loose.
There are several spots on the Chandigarh-Manali highway such as Jalor near Sundernagar, one-kilometer stretch near Hanogi temple, Dawada, Banala and a few more locations which are prone to landslides.
From Mandi towards Pandoh vehicles can be seen parked on the way, which cause long traffic jams during peak tourist season. Some locations on this road are marked as black spots, where accidents have been reported.
On this road, sharp curves between Bindavani and Pandoh need widening. Similarly, the road stretch between Pandoh and Aut is narrow at many places, which needs fencing along with crash barriers.
The road to Jogindernagar via Kotrupi is in poor shape at Kotrupi. This is the place where a massive landslide in 2017 killed 46 people. The entire route between Mandi and Joginderngar becomes landslide prone during rainy season. A few village roads in each Assembly segments are in bad condition, which require repairs.