Landslide at Ghat bend on Pithoragarh-Tanakpur National Highway to be treated
Landslide at Ghat bend on Pithoragarh-Tanakpur National Highway to be treated
B.D.Kasniyal
Pithoragarh, Sept 15
Continuous shooting of stones and debris from a vulnerable slope near Ghat Bend on the Pithoragarh-Tanakpur All-Weather Road (NH-9) over the past week has resulted in repeated road blockages and several instances of passengers in commercial vehicles being hit by falling stones and debris. National Highway (NH) officials said the vulnerable slope would be permanently treated to prevent further incidents.
Pithoragarh Congress MLA Mayukh Mahar said the prolonged closure of the road had caused serious inconvenience to commuters and that some NDA aspirants were unable to reach their examination centres last week because of the disruption.
“Despite more than Rs 1,000 crore having been spent on converting this road into an all-weather road, incidents of landslides and stone shooting continue unabated. This has caused immense inconvenience to army personnel, traders, students and ordinary travellers using the road,” Mahar said.
Bibhor Gupta, Executive Engineer of NH-9, said a tender had been invited for permanent treatment of the vulnerable stretch, with the work scheduled to be taken up after September 25.
“We have called a tender for the work on September 25. Under the project, the accumulated debris will be removed, an RCC wall will be constructed to prevent further sliding, and anchoring measures will be undertaken to stabilise the slope,” Gupta said.
More than 800 to 1,000 vehicles use this strategically important road every day, according to NH sources.
Gupta said the slope treatment would be carried out with the assistance of a THDC team, which has expertise in slope stabilisation works at various locations in Uttarakhand.
“The slope protection treatment will cover a width of 200 metres, compared with the 100-metre stretch that was treated earlier,” the NH engineer said.
According to Gupta, heavy rains had weakened portions of the hill slope, resulting in the failure of debris retained by net-crate walls. This has led to continuous sliding and shooting of stones from the slope over the past week.
District Disaster Management Officer of Pithoragarh said that although two JCB machines had been deployed to clear the debris, the road was being intermittently blocked because of the continuous shooting of stones from above.
“Even today, the road, which was blocked at around 4 am, could be cleared only after five hours,” the DDMO said.
Congress leader Mahendra Lunthi said the vulnerable stretch needed a separate and comprehensive treatment plan.
“After the major slide at Swala on this road in Champawat district was treated under a separate sanction specifically for that location, this new sliding point also requires a separate and permanent treatment,” Lunthi said.
