Shimla, Oct. 30 -- The Himachal Pradesh high court sought a reply from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) as to why it abandoned the idea of a surface highway and switched to constructing twin tunnels in Sanjauli.

The NHAI has reiterated that it will not "resume tunnelling activities until the IIT Roorkee expert team gives its approval on safety aspects". The NHAI said this during the hearing of a petition filed by Sanjauli residents. The residents, whose houses were damaged by the construction of the twin-tube Chalauthi-Sanjauli-Bhatta Kufar tunnel under Package No. 2, approached the HC seeking directions to compel NHAI to immediately halt the project.

Justice Sandeep Sharma, while hearing the petition filed by eight Sanja...