Himachal Pradesh: National Highway 5 reopens 10 days after Kinnaur landslide

The National Highway (NH) 5 has reopened for traffic after being blocked for 10 days due to a significant landslide in Kinnaur district. Initially, it was opened for pedestrians in the morning, and later one-way traffic was restored, as per officials.

KL Suman, Executive Engineer of the National Highway Authority, said, "The road has started caving in from the top at the landslide. A 380-meter stretch of NH-5 has been damaged due to the landslide."

On September 8, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) said that the traffic connectivity to Kinnaur and Spiti was cut off due to the landslide and hence a substantial number of vehicles, including trucks carrying apples and peas, were stranded.


Jagat Singh Negi, the Revenue and Horticulture Minister and Kinnaur's MLA, mentioned that some apple-laden trucks were redirected from the Kaza-Kunzum road, and a ropeway was set up at Krampa in Negulsari to facilitate the transportation of apples and peas to markets. Apple transportation from the lower regions of Kinnaur begins in August and continues until the end of November. However, apple production has declined this year due to unpredictable weather conditions.

Deputy Director Horticulture (Kinnaur), Ajay Kumar Dhiman, stated that around 30 lakh boxes of apples are expected in 2023, compared to approximately 40-42 lakh boxes last year.

Meanwhile, in a tragic accident on Friday, three people lost their lives, while three others were injured when a car fell into the river near Arya Vihar Ashram between Senji and Ongi on Gangotri National Highway-108, Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand.

Three people were killed on the spot and three were seriously injured.

"The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) received information about the accident and rushed to the spot to conduct relief and rescue operations. The team descended into a ditch about 200 meters deep to rescue the injured and retrieve the bodies of the dead," stated the release by the State Disaster Response Force.

"In collaboration with the local police, DDMA, and QRT, the SDRF team rescued the three injured people and took them to the hospital for treatment. The bodies of the three dead people were also retrieved and handed over to the district police for further action," read the release.

Inputs from Agencies