Kalka-Shimla road: many questions on highway construction

Vertical cutting means the slope of the mountain gets very close to 90 degrees, whereas, according to geologists, the slope should be less than 60 degrees. The highway’s slopes along the stretch continue to rain boulders, causing traffic on one lane of the highway to get disrupted at regular intervals.

As per state government information available, nearly two dozen landslides were reported on the highway in the last fortnight alone. These forced vehicles to take long detours between Chandigarh and Shimla.

Geologists and experts have expressed anguish over the manner in which the Parwanoo-Solan stretch was widened from two lanes to four lanes for better connectivity between Shimla and other areas in Himachal Pradesh. The stretch was opened for public use in 2021 by Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari.

On August 5, NHAI Regional Head Abdul Basit had admitted that the Parwanoo-Solan project, the authority’s first in the state, had certain “loopholes”. The highway is divided into three sections — Parwanoo to Solan (40 km); Solan to Kaithlighat (23 km); and Kaithlighat to Dhalli (27 km).

Damage on Chakki Mor, near National Highway 5, following a landslide earlier this month. Geologists and experts have expressed anguish over the manner in which the Parwanoo-Solan stretch was widened from two lanes to four lanes for better connectivity between Shimla and other areas in Himachal Pradesh. The stretch was opened for public use in 2021. (Express photo by Nainu Rohtaki)

NHAI responds

Rejecting claims of “unscientific” construction, Anand Dhaiya, Project Director for the Kalka-Shimla section of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), “Although I took charge of this section recently, I would like to state that the NHAI follows all rules and regulations strictly. It is very easy to say that the cutting of the mountain was unscientific. Those who call this cutting ‘unscientific’ should tell us what they consider ‘scientific’.”

A high-level committee comprising two professors each from IIT Rourke and IIT Mandi, along with NHAI (Projects) member RK Pandey, was in Himachal Pradesh to assess the cause of damage on the highways from August 12-15. “Though the team will focus on the Kullu-Manali highway, we have requested them to visit the Kalka-Shimla section too,” Dhaiya said.

Arundeep Ahluwalia, a former professor and the head of Panjab University’s geology department, said geologists in the region have always advocated gentle handling of the mountain slopes. “These Shivalik mountains, where the road construction took place, are the youngest mountains that arose post-Himalayas. They are the softest rocks… they have been brutalised instead of being handled with care,” he said.

The perils of the rock structure in Parwanoo-Solan stretch were not entirely unknown to the construction team. While the widening project was underway and experiencing repeated landslides in 2017, a study titled ‘Investigation of critical landslides and design of remedial measures on National Highway-5, Himachal Pradesh’ by the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) was sponsored by GR Infraprojects Ltd, the company undertaking the widening project.

Traffic restored on Chakki Mor near National Highway 5 on Wednesday. As per state government information available, nearly two dozen landslides were reported on National Highway 5 in the last fortnight alone. (Express photo by Nainu Rohtaki)

The detailed investigation, by PS Prasad, principal scientist, and Kishor Kumar, chief scientist, geotechnical engineering division, CSIR-CRRI, New Delhi, had noted, “Most of the slopes, after cutting, became unstable, partly because of the fragmented nature of rock mixed with soil and steep slopes. This stretch of 40-km length of national highway experiences slope instability in forms of landslide/ rockfall/debris fall all along the alignment. A total of 95 locations, between km 67.0 to km 106.39, have been identified as prone to landslide / rock fall and 18 locations demarcated as critical, requiring immediate attention.”

Railways report

Besides, an internal report of Northern Railway has held road construction activity responsible for “endangering” the 120-year-old Kalka-Shimla rail track, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Railways blamed uncontrolled discharge of drains from the highway towards the track by the NHAI and the cutting of slopes for damage at nearly 135 spots on the 96.6-km track.

“Although service on the Solan-Shimla section was restored after repairs at 35 locations, it was suspended again after the track got damaged in the recent cloudburst on August 14. The rack below the track was washed away,” a Railways officer said.

Mandeep Singh Bhatia, Divisional Railway Manager, Ambala, said, “Loss to the Kalka-Shimla track was caused by the NHAI’s unscientific construction. The railway authorities in Delhi have to take up the matter with the NHAI.”