Monsoon session: Ruckus during question hour over this pending road project
Shimla | TNR
The on going monsoon session of the Himachal Assembly saw heated debates during Question hour over the Shimla-Mataur national highway 88 project that has been in limbo for some time now.
Congress MLA seeks reply
Congress MLA from Nadaun, Sukhwinder Singh Sukkhu sought a reply from the Chief Minister whether the entire stretch from the capital city Shimla to Mataur in Kangra would be covered by four lanes or it would even have two lanes in parts.
233 km stretch to be divided into six parts
Responding to Sukkhu question Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur informed that the 233 km long road has been divided into six sections.
From Bhangwar to Kangra it will be a four-lane stretch, while the road from Jwalamukhi to Bhangwar, Hamirpur to Jwalamukhi and Bhaged to Hamirpur will be a two-lane one.
A draft project report (DPR) is also being prepared for the road from Shaalaghat to Nauni chowk Bilaspur as well for the road from Shimla to Shalaghat. This portion would be developed as a four-lane.
Four lane roads for congested areas
The Chief Minister told the Assembly that the state government had taken up the issue of constructing four-lane roads in the state with the Central government effectively.
However, he stated that there were also certain parameters to be considered before initiating the construction of four-lane roads, primarily the traffic-flow in a particular area.
Extensive studies undertaken by experts have concluded that those parts with heavy traffic flow would have four-lane roads while those that were less congested would have two-lanes. The tenders for these projects have already been floated.
Bhangwar-Kangra four-lane construction to begin from November
Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said that work on the Bhangwar-Kangra four-lane, part of the Shimla-Mataur national highway 88, would commence from November this year. This 18 km stretch would be completed in two years at a cost of Rs 1323 crore.
During the Question hour, MLA Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu said that 70 percent of Himachal’s population was using this national highway. In all 52 Assembly areas and nine districts are connected with this national highway.
