Hill excavation triggering landslips on Solan highway

Ambika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Solan, October 6

Indiscriminate excavation of hills in a piecemeal manner by the private agency engaged in four-laning the Parwanoo-Solan section of National Highway(NH)-22 has enhanced the vulnerability of landslides.

Three major landslides have occurred on this section for the past about six months with a Nangal resident even losing his life after his vehicle was trapped under the falling debris near Shamlech. In another case, a youth was grievously injured and his car was damaged beyond repair when a huge boulder had fallen over it a few months ago near Datiyar.

Experts say that vertical cutting of hills having more than 45 degree slope makes a hill vulnerable to landslide. The exposed slope become prone to landslides each time it rains. It has been observed that large-scale excavation work was underway at several sites while construction of breast walls was proceeding at a slower pace at only few such places. While the sole focus was to extract stones the exposed hill from Parwanoo-Dharampur has made driving risky for the motorists.

The road faces a huge inflow of traffic. It was also observed that huge boulders were exposed after indiscriminate excavation of the hills and they could prove fatal if they fell on passing vehicles. Experts also say that the use of heavy machinery to undertake excavation work was adversely affecting the vulnerable hill strata which was crumbling with the vibrations at several sites. Though metal walls had been erected at some such sites they would fail to contain the damage in case large boulders came crashing below on the road.

No alternate routes had as yet been worked out to divert traffic. Though the National Highways Authority of India has sanctioned funds worth Rs 27 crore to repair three alternate roads, work was yet to begin.

Executive Engineer, PWD, Sandip Sobti said the work on the alternate routes was likely to be awarded soon and it would take 18 months for its completion.

Assistant Geologist Sarit Chandra said the timely erection of breast walls at places where the excavation work of hills was underway can help prevent landslides and since work was being executed in a piecemeal manner the probability of slides was more.