Shimla Halts NHAI Tunnel Work after Road Depression and Home Cracks

01 Dec 2025 CW Team

The Shimla district administration has ordered an immediate halt to all construction on the twin tube tunnel under National Highway-05 after a large depression surfaced on the Mehli–Dhali Road and structural cracks appeared in several nearby homes. The decision follows growing safety concerns triggered by the recent landslide at Bhattakufar.

District Magistrate Anupam Kashyap has written to the Project Director of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), instructing that all excavation, blasting and related activities under the Shimla Bypass Package-II be stopped without delay. The blasting permit issued to Gawar, Shimla Highway Private Ltd has also been temporarily withdrawn pending further review.

A preliminary inspection by the Geological Branch found significant ground instability in the affected area. The report confirms the formation of a large depression on the Mehli–Dhali Road, cracks in the rock mass, persistent leakage and exposure of utilities. Several surrounding residential structures have also developed cracks, raising concerns about the safety of the settlement.

Officials noted that the alignment of the under-construction twin tube tunnel runs directly beneath the impacted zone, and the possibility that excavation activity contributed to the instability “cannot be ruled out,” according to the report.

In light of these findings, the administration has called for a detailed geotechnical and geophysical investigation by a specialised agency such as the Geological Survey of India (GSI) to pinpoint the exact cause of the subsidence and landslide activity.

Citing risks to public safety and nearby residential buildings, Kashyap said all tunnelling, blasting and excavation works at Bhattakufar will remain suspended until expert assessments are completed and further orders are issued.

News source: The Tribune

Image source

Real Estate

05 Dec 2025

RBI Rate Cut Boosts Confidence Across Housing Market

Industry Context and Market DynamicsThe real estate industry has welcomed the RBI’s rate cut as a timely boost to affordability and demand. With home prices having risen steadily across major markets, even a marginal reduction in interest rates meaningfully strengthens purchasing power, especially for first-time and mid-income buyers.Ashish Jerath, President – Sales & Marketing, Smartworld Developers, observes:“The RBI’s 25-basis-point cut, bringing the repo rate down to 5.25%, is a timely boost for the real estate sector. Lower interest rates reduce borrowing costs, enabling homeb..

BMC Resumes Rs 170 Billion Road Works, Targets 80 per cent By Jan 2026

Following the withdrawal of the southwest monsoon in October, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has restarted work on 645 roads—covering 297.49 kilometres—under its large-scale concretisation programme. Data shows that more than 60 per cent of the resumed works are located in the western suburbs. Officials said the civic body aims to complete concretisation on 80 per cent of the roads where fresh work has begun by January 2026. Launched in 2022, the Rs 170 billion project seeks to concretise 700 kilometres of roads across Mumbai. All civil works were halted during the monsoon ..

India Pushes Digital Shift In Urban Land Mapping

The Department of Land Resources (DoLR) under the Ministry of Rural Development has convened a National Symposium on NAKSHA – the National Geospatial Knowledge-based Land Survey of Urban Habitations – to advance India’s transition to modern, technology-driven land mapping. Speaking at the inaugural session, Secretary Manoj Joshi underscored the urgent need to move revenue departments away from outdated, tape-based methods and rough hand-drawn sketches. He stressed that adopting latitude–longitude-based digital mapping and GIS-linked registration systems is essential for economic stabi..