New Delhi: Former deputy mayor of Shimla Tikender Singh Panwar has lodged a police complaint against the the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) alleging criminal negligence in its construction of a four-lane highway in Himachal Pradesh. Police have registered an FIR in the state’s Solan district.Panwar also named an infrastructure company called G.R. Infraprojects in his complaint, news agency ANI reported.The highway in question runs between Solan and Parwanoo towns, the latter of which is located near Himachal Pradesh’s border with Haryana.Panwar alleged that it was constructed in violation of environmental norms and called for an investigation into whether the violations were a result of collusion.“This is a complaint for criminal neglect leading to massive loss to the natural ecosystem, human lives, assets, [and] financial loss to the people owing to their inability to carry their [agricultural] produce to the market,” the FIR says according to ANI.“Also in this criminal neglect, whether it is circumstantial or there was a connivance in it should also be assessed.”It also says that the NHAI and G.R. Infra may have not consulted the state’s geological authorities before preparing the highway’s project report.“This is a part of the Himalayas, which are sedimentary rocks, and there are still plate moments. The work should have been done on the basis of [a] geological study. If that has been ignored, that is more serious,” Panwar told ANI.The FIR adds that the highway’s design is “erroneously manufactured for ill-conceived ideas and profits.”“Instead of cutting the mountain in slopes, they have been cut vertically, and this will be a perpetual problem for the people in whose name this development project has been done.”Also Read: Double-Engine Govt in Uttarakhand Flouted Rules To Allow River Mining: ReportIn an article for The Hindu newspaper, Panwar had said that roads in mountains are traditionally cut in a terraced manner in order to minimise damage to the environment.But an increased emphasis on tourism and rapid development has meant that such projects are built by ignoring geological studies and traditional engineering knowledge, Panwar wrote.“The consequences of such road expansions are evident during even normal rainfall, as it leads to slips and slides, amplifying the magnitude of the destruction during heavy rain or floods,” his article says.ANI quoted him as saying that there were no public hearings or environmental impact assessments during the construction of the Pawarnoo-Solan highway.Referring to broader construction trends in the state, Panwar also said that landslides and road slippage caused by unscientific building methods were affecting the state’s apple crop.He alleged that “this has happened not only in the present year, but it has been done during the previous years also after they have started building the four-lane [highways] in this region.”Himachal Pradesh experienced torrential rain and flooding in July this year, killing an estimated 150 people and resulting in losses amounting to Rs 10,000 crore, The Hindu reported.Apples grown in Himachal Pradesh were damaged and their supply delayed due to a combination of heavy rainfall and closed roads this monsoon season.Ravinder Chauhan, president of the Apple Growers Association of India, told The Hindu that apple production this year could possibly be reduced to half the normal amount.
