The Sanawar Gaon-Kasauli road remained blocked for several hours on Saturday evening after massive boulders and debris crashed onto the road from a nearby hill. The incident brought traffic to a halt and left commuters stranded.
According to officials, the hill had been cut almost vertically, in violation of safety norms that allow slopes to be cut only up to 45 degrees. The unsafe excavation is believed to have triggered the landslide.
Kasauli SDM reached the spot soon after the incident and instructed the Public Works Department (PWD) to begin clearing the road. Meanwhile, traffic was diverted through the narrow Sanawar-Sukhi Jori road, resulting in long traffic jams.
Officials said excavation work on the hillside was stopped around 12.30 pm after rocks began falling. However, by evening, a large section of the hill gave way, sending huge boulders onto the road and blocking traffic completely.
The incident occurred during the weekend, when tourist traffic to Kasauli was heavy. Hundreds of travellers remained stuck for hours as vehicles queued up on both sides of the road.
Residents said a realtor had been carrying out excavation at the site for several months. Metal sheets had been installed along the roadside during the work, reducing the width of the road and causing inconvenience to commuters.
The SDM said PWD teams worked through the night to remove the debris. After hours of effort, traffic was restored at around 2.30 am on Sunday. He added that the PWD had earlier issued several notices to the realtor for narrowing the road with metal sheets, but the directions were allegedly ignored.
The police have now been asked to initiate legal action against the realtor. The PWD will also issue a fresh notice over the obstruction caused on the road.
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