Kangra: Himachal Pradesh has a road network of nearly 45,000 km, making reliable road connectivity critical for access to hospitals, schools, markets and government services, particularly in rural and mountainous areas.
Residents continue to raise complaints about damaged roads across the state. In Haripur, residents submitted a memorandum to the Public Works Department (PWD) seeking repairs to deteriorating roads in the area.
The Dharech–Khagna road also requires scrutiny. However, official PWD records place the road in Theog, Shimla district. The 8.6-km PMGSY road received a sanction of ₹152.88 lakh, and government records list the project as completed.
A 2026 PWD maintenance tender for the Dharech–Khagna road shows that the completed road still requires repair and maintenance. This distinction matters because completing the original project does not eliminate the need for future maintenance.
Therefore, the current condition of a completed road alone cannot establish that authorities misused the original project funds. Any allegation of financial irregularity would require an official inquiry, measurement records, payment details or an audit finding.
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Funding, land issues and delays in road execution
Rising construction costs have also increased pressure on road maintenance. PWD Minister Vikramaditya Singh has said that higher bitumen prices have created financial pressure on road construction and repair projects.
The minister has also identified private-land issues as a reason for delays in some road projects. When a proposed road passes through private land, authorities may require the transfer or execution of a gift deed before they can move the project forward.
Himachal Pradesh’s difficult terrain creates another challenge. Heavy rainfall, landslides and extreme weather repeatedly damage roads and increase the cost of maintaining existing connectivity.
The state therefore faces two related challenges: building new roads and maintaining the existing network. A department may complete a road under one project and later need to carry out resurfacing, drainage work, retaining structures or other repairs.
Government’s road repair push after the monsoon
The PWD has announced accelerated road repair and tarring work after the monsoon. In August 2026, the department reported plans to tar around 800 km of roads at an estimated cost of ₹120 crore.
The same update said authorities were carrying out construction and upgradation work covering nearly 1,500 km at various stages.
These figures indicate the scale of the government’s road programme, but project announcements alone cannot establish whether individual roads received repairs on schedule. To assess that, officials and the public need project-level information such as the sanctioned cost, expenditure, completion date, contractor details and maintenance status.
When residents allege that authorities have not completed sanctioned road work, investigators and officials should first verify the official project record.
The relevant documents include the administrative sanction, detailed project report, work order, measurement book, contractor payment records, completion certificate and subsequent maintenance tenders.
For PMGSY roads, officials should also distinguish the original project from later maintenance contracts. A completed PMGSY project does not mean that the road will remain permanently free from repair requirements.
Ground-level test of road development
The effectiveness of road development ultimately depends on whether roads remain usable after monsoon damage, landslides and prolonged weather exposure.
For rural communities, poor road conditions can directly affect ambulance access, school transport, agricultural movement and access to local markets.
The key accountability question is therefore not simply how much money authorities have sanctioned for roads.
The real question is whether authorities executed the sanctioned work according to approved specifications, whether payments correspond to work actually completed, and whether they repair damaged roads within a reasonable timeframe.
The real test of Himachal Pradesh’s road-development claims is the condition of the road after authorities complete the project—not merely the amount sanctioned or the number of kilometres announced.
