Shimla: Fear is spreading through the Sanjauli–Cymmetery-Bhattakufarbelt as residents living above the under-construction twin tunnels took to the streets, demanding a permanent solution to cracks that have appeared in their homes and an immediate halt to work until their safety is assured.
A large number of residents, including women and children, joined the protest march from the Sanjauli tunnel area towards Sanjauli Chowk, raising concern over the growing damage to residential buildings.
The protesters accused the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the construction agencies of putting homes at risk while pushing ahead with the four-lane tunnel project beneath a densely populated locality.
For families watching cracks spread across walls and floors, the issue is no longer about inconvenience—it is about whether their homes will remain standing.
Residents say they have invested their lifetime savings in these houses and now live with the fear that continued excavation and vibrations could turn structural damage into a larger disaster.
The latest protest follows reports of cracks in several buildings in the Shanti Vihar–Sanjauli area. The district administration had earlier suspended the blasting permission for the tunnel work and sought a scientific assessment by IIT Roorkee to establish the cause of the damage. Structures within a 100-metre zone above the twin tunnels are also being assessed.
The controversy has intensified because residents and NHAI have offered sharply different accounts of the construction process. Residents allege that blasting and tunnelling vibrations have contributed to the cracks, while NHAI has maintained that blasting for the tunnel work was suspended in November 2025 and that no blasting has been undertaken thereafter. The authority has also said remedial measures including grouting, structural retrofitting, crack sealing and repairs are being carried out at affected locations.
But the assurances have failed to calm residents, who are demanding an independent assessment rather than temporary repairs. Their central question is simple: if the cracks are widening, who will take responsibility if a damaged house becomes unsafe?
The concern is not without precedent. In January, NHAI decided to acquire two residential buildings in Chalaunthi that had become structurally unsafe after cracks developed during tunnel-related work, with compensation announced for one building and the acquisition process initiated for another.
In another case arising from the Bhattakufar area, the Himachal Pradesh High Court directed NHAI and its contractor to share ₹2.23 crore in compensation after a residential building collapsed during four-lane highway construction. The court noted that the compensation had been assessed earlier but had not been paid.
The stakes are therefore rising beyond the handful of houses currently showing visible damage. Residents fear that the tunnel alignment beneath the locality could expose a much larger population to ground movement and structural risk as construction advances.
The protesters are now demanding that the authorities stop treating the issue as a repair exercise and address the underlying safety question. They want a comprehensive survey of vulnerable buildings, an independent technical investigation, compensation wherever damage is established and a permanent mechanism to protect homes above the tunnel.
For the people living above the project, the demand is not to stop development forever. It is to ensure that the price of a four-lane tunnel is not paid by families in the form of cracked walls, unsafe homes and sleepless nights.
The protests are gaining momentum, with residents warning that they will intensify their agitation if a permanent solution is not found.
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