The four-lane highway project between Kiratpur and Manali is nearing completion and is set to be opened to the public by June 15. According to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), the new highway will reduce the travel time between Delhi and Manali to just 10 hours from the previous 14 hours. It will also reduce the distance between Chandigarh and Manali to six hours.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has shared images of the construction work that has been done on the highway. It includes five tunnels, more than 30 bridges, and several other amenities such as medical facilities, CCTV cameras, vehicle speed displays, and a video incident detection system. The Pandoh bypass, a crucial section of the highway, is already complete.
The NHAI has set a June 30 deadline to complete the Kiratpur-Ner Chowk stretch. The Nerchowk-Pandoh stretch is expected to be completed by December 31, 2023 and Pandoh-Takoli by March 31, 2024. The parts between Takoli to Kullu and Kullu to Manali have already been completed.
Once the project is complete, the NHAI claims that it will reduce the number of road accidents and reduce fuel and maintenance cost, while also curbing environmental pollution. The project was launched in 2013 and is expected to save an estimated ₹900-1,000 crore per annum.