Travelling on potholed Kandwal stretch of Pathankot-Mandi NH in Nurpur a nightmare

The Kandwal-Bherkhud (Phase-1) stretch of the Pathankot-Mandi National Highway-154 was badly damaged due to the prolonged monsoon rainfall.

The road stretch riddled with potholes is part of the under-construction Pathankot-Mandi four-lane highway project being executed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) through Mumbai-based IRB Infrastructure Developers. This company had sublet the construction work to other firms by engaging them in different phases of the highway widening project.

Though the monsoon season has ended, some road stretches require immediate repairs or patchwork to fill potholes to ensure hassle-free travelling. Commuters, who travel on the potholed road, are a harried lot; the bumpy road has made their journey troublesome.

The damaged Kandwal-Jassur, Nurpur (Chogan)-Khushinagar, Khushinagar-Bagni, Khazian-Jonta and Jonta-Bherkhud road stretches of the phase one of the Pathankot-Mandi four-lane highway project needs urgent repairs. Recently, a truck loaded with timber coming from Gujarat to deliver goods at Yol Cantonment in Dharamsala had skidded on the slippery potholed road and overturned near Jonta. The truck driver fortunately had escaped unhurt in the mishap.

The commuters using the under-construction four-lane highway stretch demand timely repair and maintenance of the potholed road, especially the stretches of the existing national highway where no construction work is underway. The NHAI is constructing a bypass to keep Nurpur town away from the four-lane road project. The bypass is being constructed from Bodh to Khushinagar. The Bodh-Khushinagar highway stretch on suburban locations in Nurpur is in a bad shape and needs urgent repair and maintenance.

The NHAI had taken over the Pathankot-Mandi National Highway-154 from the state government in 2017 for its widening to four lanes and hence has the responsibility to repair and maintain it. The increasing traffic of heavily loaded and double-axle vehicles on the existing highway has damaged it and led to potholes. The commuters face a tough time while plying vehicles on the road stretch, particularly at night. A number of two-wheeler riders have met with accidents here. An NHAI official says that the company engaged for the construction of the first phase of the highway four-lane project for the Kandwal-Bherkhud stretch has been directed to repair potholes on a war footing.

Himachal Tribune