Rain shelter on Palampur outskirts cries for attention

A rain shelter built on the Pathankot-Mandi National Highway near Banoru on the outskirts of Palampur town is on the verge of collapse. The shelter needs immediate attention of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) under whose jurisdiction the structure falls. The rain shelter has been in shambles for the past five years.

Local residents said in the absence of rain shelter, they had to sit in the open during rain and sun while waiting for buses. The matter had been brought to the notice of the NHAI and senior officials of the Palampur administration time and again, but no action was taken in this connection. Local panchayat pardhan also met officials of the NHAI and the MLA in this regard, but to no avail.

This rain shelter was constructed by the Himachal Pradesh Public Works Department (PWD) in 1970 when the road was under its jurisdiction. It had not been repaired since then. Earlier, the PWD looked after repairs of the highway, but never bothered to repair the shelter. When the highway was handed over to the NHAI in 2016, the condition of rain shelter worsened. As the authorities concerned have been turning a blind eye towards the shelter, the public has been forced to face vagaries of nature.

Himachal Tribune