NHAI to fly in heavy equipment to fix Kullu-Manali highway

NEW DELHI: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will airlift around nine heavy construction equipment for restoration of two stretches of the Kullu-Manali highway which has become inaccessible following heavy rain-triggered floods.

On Monday, the highways authority said that restoration work is being taken up at 12 completely damaged locations on the Kullu-Manali section of national highway-21 and five partially damaged locations to restore connectivity to Manali from the rest of Himachal Pradesh.

Besides the nine pieces of heavy construction equipment, NHAI said "around 70 machines have been deployed and an additional 20 machines are in transit." Meanwhile, funds are being provided to the state govt to maintain an alternative road so that connectivity with Manali is restored, it said.

Sources said the highways authority has submitted its request for airlifting of equipment to the Himachal Pradesh govt, which will forward the requisition to defence authorities. They added that since there is a 'red alert' (for heavy rain) for two more days, it may take time to start airlifting the equipment.

On Tuesday, Kullu deputy commissioner Torul S Raveesh said NHAI was working across multiple sections of the NH-21 to ensure rapid restoration work. She told news agency ANI that NHAI needed to deploy machineries at all points for faster restoration, and hence, the need arised for airlifting of equipment to locations that currently lack connectivity.