Kinnaur, Spiti valley cut off from Shimla as 150-metre road sinks

Tribune News Service

Subhash Rajta

Shimla, September 8

Kinnaur and Spiti valley has been cut off from the rest of the state after a stretch of 150 metres road on the National Highway 5 sunk near Nigulsari.

About strech completely caved in, thus, halting the vehicular movement to Spiti.

According to officials, the movement of vehicles was stopped last night. The hill side had been sinking for the last two days. There is no alternate route to Kinnaur.

A stretch of about 150-300 metre of the NH has been badly damaged, K L Suman, executive engineer, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), said, adding that it is not even possible to cross the stretch on foot.

A large number of vehicles, including apple-laden trucks coming from Kinnaur, are stranded on the road. The apple growers are worried as their produce will rot if the road is not opened soon. Machinery and manpower have been deployed, but stones falling from the hills are obstructing the road opening work, the officials said.

Horticulture and Tribal Development Minister Jagat Singh Negi, who is also the MLA from Kinnaur, visited the spot and directed officials to clear the road on a war footing.

He inspected the spot with the help of drone cameras and directed the officials to arrange for the trans-shipment (buses and vehicles stuck on the Kinnaur side would take passengers coming from Shimla and move back towards Kinnaur and vice versa) of passengers and goods.

There are 17,120 landslide-prone sites in the hill state, including 675 located near critical infrastructure and habitations. Negulsari is among the 15 such prioritised sites in the tribal district of Kinnaur. The other significant spots in the district include Urni Dhank, Batsari, Nesang and Purbani Julha.

 With PTI inputs

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