Mandi : 15 Gram Panchayats in Sadar Vidhan Sabha Area Deprived of Road Access for Over 1.5 Months

Mandi, August 3: For more than a month and a half now, 15 Gram Panchayats in the Sadar Assembly area have been completely cut off from road access. The thousands of residents here have been daily trekking on foot to reach the Mandi city. A significant portion of the road was washed away directly into the Beas River due to heavy rainfall on July 11th at a place called Lagate Baadi. As a result, even the houses nearby faced difficulties.

The current situation is that the people from these 15 Panchayats are entirely deprived of road access. On the other hand, there is only one private bus available, which people are using to reach the Baadi and from there, they have to continue on foot or wait for another bus to reach Mandi city.

The challenging part is that there was no pedestrian route available, but the Public Works Department has temporarily constructed a footbridge to restore pedestrian access. Schoolchildren, working individuals, daily commuters, and others are facing significant difficulties. They have appealed to the government and department to provide a swift and permanent solution to this issue.

The Executive Engineer of the Public Works Department in Mandi Mandal, Suresh Kaushal, stated that the work to build the Bailey Bridge was initiated as per the directions of the Minister of Public Works. However, due to heavy rainfall on August 14th, the marked location also got affected. Now, a retaining wall is being constructed from the river’s side, and the process of acquiring land has begun. He assured the people that vehicle movement would resume from here within a week or ten days.