Pinjore-Parwanoo by-pass remains a dream

PARWANOO, May 13: The much needed bye-pass around the towns of Pinjore, Kalka and Parwanoo on national highway-22 from Ambala to Shimla stil...

PARWANOO, May 13: The much needed bye-pass around the towns of Pinjore, Kalka and Parwanoo on national highway-22 from Ambala to Shimla still appears to be a dream for the residents, traders and industrialists of these town, even after the completion of the survey done in this connection long back.

The need of this by-pass has been felt more and more due to the growing tourist traffic, the rush of apple and potato growers and moving of heavy machinery for the hydel projects in Himachal Pradesh.

Heavy traffic with no by-pass on this national highway is responsible for many accidents. Traffic jams occur often and take hours to clear. They cause a lot of inconvenience to commuters, especially from Chandigarh and Panchkula who come to these towns for they have their offices here.

A feasibility study prepared by a some private engineering company for a by-pass around these towns has already been handed over to the Public Works Department Bamp;R of Haryana by the Ministry of Surface Transport, Government of India, according to a report.

As per the source, the study has suggested three alternatives for the proposed bye-pass whose total length would be 8.77 km. Out of this, 5.61 km would fall in Haryana and 3.16 km in Himachal Pradesh. The source added that another survey was done earlier, in which one length of the bye-pass had come to 13 km and it was estimated to cost about 100 crores. The length has now been cut short to 8.77 km, but this stretch would cost higher than the conventional estimates because the terrain is hilly and rather difficult.

The first proposed alternative suggests deviation of the road from Ghatiwal village passed through the foothills near Ramsar. It then joins the village road near Khanguwala. According to the second and most convenient alternative, the bye-pass takes off from the mall road near the junction, follows the foothills of Pinjore hills, joins the village road near Ghattiwal, bye-passing the Pinjore reserve forests, follows the road to Tipra and goes to Dalli village near Parwanoo and then joins the national highway.

According to the third alternative, the bye-pass road starts near the existing cart road on the bank of river Kaushalya from Bitna village, the alignment deviates from the river side to the hillock, enters Tipra village and from there, goes to Dalli village on the highway near Parwanoo.

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The entire expenditure for the bye-pass will be met by the government of India. This bye-pass, if and when constructed, will ease the traffic on the highway and on the congested roads of Pinjore, Kalka and Parwanoo. It also will reduce the time taken to travel.

The bye-pass will be designed to curve smoother in areas falling in Himachal Pradesh and will take the traffic straight to a place near Village Dalli in the state by completely passing the three towns of Pinjore, Kalka and Parwanoo.

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