Shimla, June 24 Running through time, the British-era 39-km Parwanoo-Solan highway, later connected with the Himachal Pradesh capital, was finally inaugurated virtually on Thursday by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari after much delays largely owing to landslips from the highly fragile hill strata that had been excavated for the highway widening.
Now it will reduce the travel time by half an hour between Parwanoo-Solan with an outlay of Rs 1,303 crore and makes the motorists to drive for pleasure, but bypass the history.
Travellers to the erstwhile summer capital of British India, taking the highway, will bypass old towns of Parwanoo, Kumarhatti, Barog and Kandaghat.
It's better to travel than to arrive maxim may no longer apply with the reduced charm of the journey uphill on the highway that goes on and on.
Missing landmarks, such as railway crossings along the British-era narrow gauge Unesco World Heritage tag Kalka-Shimla rail track, the bazaars of Dharampur and Barog and the statue of Rani Jhansi at Chambaghat will also mark their travel.
Meandering their way through the hills, the travelers otherwise will be greeted by new man-made landmarks such as 3D paintings on breast walls, greenbelts and bus stops along the highway.
The journey may not be taxing on the four-lane highway due to reduced traffic jams, but will cost the commuters dear. They will have to pay toll tax of Rs 55 per private vehicle between Parwanoo and Solan.
Officials admit to that the maximum damage to the highway during excavation was on a 30-km stretch between Parwanoo and Kumarhatti where over 20km was either badly damaged or piled repeatedly with boulders and muck due to frequent landslides, mainly in the monsoon.
Often, when the highway widening was in progress by cutting the hills vertically, the motorists fear a threat to life from the falling debris.
Even the executing agency, the National Highway Authority of India
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