Munish Sood
Mandi: It began with a moment of rage but has now ignited a statewide uproar across Himachal Pradesh.
On the landslide-hit Kullu-Manali four-lane near Jhiri, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) officer Ajay Sharma allegedly lost his temper during live media coverage and publicly threatened to slap a journalist who was reporting from the danger zone.
The scene unfolded as tonnes of debris slid perilously close to moving vehicles. Instead of managing the hazard or warning commuters, the officer turned on the journalist, issuing the threat in full public view. Within hours, videos and eyewitness accounts spread, sparking condemnation from press bodies and fresh anger against the NHAI’s handling of road safety in Himachal Pradesh.
Various journalist unions have termed Ajay Sharma’s outburst “an attack on press freedom” and warned of statewide protests if action is not taken.
Meanwhile, on the Shimla’s Shoghi-Dhalli four-lane stretch, the NHAI’s near-vertical hill cutting and weak retaining walls have destabilised slopes, allege residents. The state forest department has even lodged a police complaint after a landslide on the Kaithlighat-Dhalli stretch destroyed a five-storey building, causing a loss of over Rs 2.14 crore to its owner. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu inspected the site, calling for eco-sensitive construction.
Himachal Pradesh High Court slams slow repairs
On the Mandi-Manali NH, the Himachal Pradesh High Court has criticised the slow pace of post-monsoon repair work, warning that public lives are being endangered. Locals near Talyadh accuse the NHAI of laying substandard roads, neglecting safety walls and unsafe hill cutting, turning the route into a “death trap” during the rainy season.
In Kangra’s Gummer village, NHAI workers were seen laying bitumen on wet roads in heavy rain. Farmers complain that poor road conditions are delaying apple and vegetable transport, causing major losses. On the Parwanoo-Solan four-lane, a criminal complaint has accused the NHAI and its contractor of repeated disasters due to reckless slope cutting and poor workmanship.
This monsoon, nearly 500 roads are blocked across Himachal Pradesh while landslides have claimed at least 184 lives and caused infrastructure losses exceeding Rs 1,700 crore. Tragedies include a car plunging 300 feet after a road cave-in in Mandi, a boulder crushing a vehicle in Shimla and a JCB operator dying during clearance work.
Across Shimla, Mandi, and Kangra, residents accuse the NHAI of cutting corners on safety, ignoring environmental safeguards and treating Himachal’s fragile hills as a construction free-for-all. “This is not just carelessness but criminal negligence,” said a resident from Mandi. “We are paying for these highways with our taxes—and sometimes with our lives.”
On cam: NHAI officer threatens to slap Himachal journalist after losing cool near blocked road in Kullu
Munish Sood
Mandi: It began with a moment of rage but has now ignited a statewide uproar across Himachal Pradesh.
On the landslide-hit Kullu-Manali four-lane near Jhiri, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) officer Ajay Sharma allegedly lost his temper during live media coverage and publicly threatened to slap a journalist who was reporting from the danger zone.
The scene unfolded as tonnes of debris slid perilously close to moving vehicles. Instead of managing the hazard or warning commuters, the officer turned on the journalist, issuing the threat in full public view. Within hours, videos and eyewitness accounts spread, sparking condemnation from press bodies and fresh anger against the NHAI’s handling of road safety in Himachal Pradesh.
Various journalist unions have termed Ajay Sharma’s outburst “an attack on press freedom” and warned of statewide protests if action is not taken.
Meanwhile, on the Shimla’s Shoghi-Dhalli four-lane stretch, the NHAI’s near-vertical hill cutting and weak retaining walls have destabilised slopes, allege residents. The state forest department has even lodged a police complaint after a landslide on the Kaithlighat-Dhalli stretch destroyed a five-storey building, causing a loss of over Rs 2.14 crore to its owner. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu inspected the site, calling for eco-sensitive construction.
Himachal Pradesh High Court slams slow repairs
On the Mandi-Manali NH, the Himachal Pradesh High Court has criticised the slow pace of post-monsoon repair work, warning that public lives are being endangered. Locals near Talyadh accuse the NHAI of laying substandard roads, neglecting safety walls and unsafe hill cutting, turning the route into a “death trap” during the rainy season.
In Kangra’s Gummer village, NHAI workers were seen laying bitumen on wet roads in heavy rain. Farmers complain that poor road conditions are delaying apple and vegetable transport, causing major losses. On the Parwanoo-Solan four-lane, a criminal complaint has accused the NHAI and its contractor of repeated disasters due to reckless slope cutting and poor workmanship.
This monsoon, nearly 500 roads are blocked across Himachal Pradesh while landslides have claimed at least 184 lives and caused infrastructure losses exceeding Rs 1,700 crore. Tragedies include a car plunging 300 feet after a road cave-in in Mandi, a boulder crushing a vehicle in Shimla and a JCB operator dying during clearance work.
Across Shimla, Mandi, and Kangra, residents accuse the NHAI of cutting corners on safety, ignoring environmental safeguards and treating Himachal’s fragile hills as a construction free-for-all. “This is not just carelessness but criminal negligence,” said a resident from Mandi. “We are paying for these highways with our taxes—and sometimes with our lives.”
