Compensation for all damage due to blasting, even outside NHAI's acquired area: Himachal minister

Shimla, Jan 14 (PTI) Compensation will be offered for the damage caused due to the tunnel construction works even if it falls outside the area acquired by the NHAI, Himachal Pradesh Minister Anirudh Singh said on Wednesday.

Earlier, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) decided to acquire residential buildings that have become structurally unsafe after developing cracks due to blasting activities in the Chalaunti area of Shimla, after conducting a survey.

However, committees have been formed now in Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand to assess and compensate for the damage caused outside the acquired width in four-lane construction projects, the rural development and panchayati raj minister said.

All affected people would be compensated as per the rules, he added.

Referring to the damage caused to three multi-storey buildings -- two residential buildings and one hotel -- in the Chaulanti area last week, Singh said the buildings would be acquired and all affected people would be provided relief.

Cracks had developed in the buildings due to the blasting for tunnel construction, rendering 15 families homeless overnight.

Respoding to queries, Singh said blasting is not permitted in inhabited areas, and the permission for controlled blasting had been cancelled. The district administration, the state government and the NHAI were working together on the issue, and relief measures for all affected people were underway, he said.

Over 40 people from 15 families residing in two buildings, along with tourists and staff staying at a hotel, vacated their premises on the night of January 9 after cracks appeared in three buildings in the Chaulanti area.

The affected families alleged that blasting of rocks to bore a tunnel for the four-laning of the road between Bhattakufar and Chaulanti led to cracks in their buildings. The project has been undertaken by the NHAI and executed by a private company.

Singh said several houses had been damaged due to the construction of the four-lane tunnel in Chaulanti and a survey was underway.

He added that the report of the geological department was awaited.

The minister also said instruments would be installed on buildings falling under the Bhattakufar-Chaulanti stretch of the Kaithlighat-Dhalli four-lane project so that any dangerous situation could be detected immediately and rescue operations carried out.

"Everyone wants the four-lane project, but it should not cause problems for local people," he said.

On June 30, 2025, a five-storey building had collapsed in Bhattakufar, with residents alleging irregularities in the four-lane construction by the NHAI.

PTI BPL PRK