Road-widening: Heaps of excavated material pose threat to houses in Nurpur

Our Correspondent

Nurpur, February 20

The project to widen the Pathankot-Mandi National Highway (NH-154) is giving sleepless nights to Seuni village residents here. The material excavated from the roadside hills near Batees Meel under Jawali subdivision in Kangra district has allegedly endangered some houses here.

The company engaged in the four-laning of the highway is reportedly dumping the excavated material on a piece of private land earmarked as dumping site. The heaps of such material pose a threat to the nearby houses, thus giving sleepless nights to their owners for the past over one week.

SDM’s assurance

The construction firm has been directed to dump the excavated material at some other site. The complaint has also been forwarded to the Palampur NHAI Project Director. —Mahinder Pratap Singh, SDM, Jawali

Seuni village residents Anil Kumar, Pankaj Kumar and Amitabh, whose houses face landslide threat due to the dumping of excavated material near their houses, have been running from pillar to post to stop muck dumping there.

They have now approached the Jawali SDM, who is also the Competent Authority

for Land Acquisition designated by the NHAI.

In a complaint submitted to the SDM, they have sought administrative intervention for shifting the dumping site from that residential area to some other location. The noise and dust pollution created by the machinery used by the construction company were the other major factors disturbing these villagers.

Jawali SDM Mahinder Pratap Singh said after receiving the complaint from the affected families, the construction firm had been directed to dump the excavated material at some other site. The complaint has also been forwarded to the Project Director, NHAI, Palampur, for requisite action.