Dr. Sikander Kumar demand to pave and widen the roads connecting Pangi Valley in Rajya Sabha

Dharamshala, December 23, 2022: Rajya Sabha MP from Himachal Professor Dr. Sikander Kumar has demanded widening and paving of the roads connecting the inaccessible Pangi valley with Chamba and Lahaul valley.

Dr Kumar informed this reporter that during the Special Mention in the Rajya Sabha, he raised the issue and said that after independence, many roads in Himachal Pradesh have been paved and widened, but the 40 kilometer long road which was constructed by the Border Roads Organization connecting Lahaul Valley and Pangi Valley (the portion between Throat (Lahaul) and Sansari nala in Pangi valley). “This  road patch between Nala (Pangi) was made a single lane years ago and after so many years this road has neither been paved nor widened due to which the traffic in this area is facing a lot of difficulty,” said Dr Kumar.

He informed the house that the other road connecting Chamba with Pangi  Valley has been constructed for almost 30 years back and this road too has neither been paved nor widened .  He demanded that both of  these  roads connecting difficult and remote areas of  Chamba and Lahaul should be paved and widened.

Pangi, a tehsil of Chamba, is a beautiful tribal valley , as well as one of the most remote areas in Himachal Pradesh state. The Pangi Valley is divided into the Saichu, Hudan Bhatori, Anch Chaloli and Sural Bhatori valleys, which are inhabited at elevations of 7,000 feet (2,100 m) to 11,000 feet (3,400 m) above sea level.

Roads here are poor, with few of them surfaced. The Saach Pass at an altitude of 14,500 feet (4,400 m) is open for vehicular traffic between mid-June and October, but closed by heavy snow at other times of the year. The Pangi tehsil covers 1,601 square kilometres (618 sq mi), and had a population of 18,868 at the 2011 census. Pangi has 16 panchayats and 54 inhabited villages.