Uttarakhand govt seeks Rs 30 cr to repair roads

To restore and rebuild the road stretches damaged by the recent floods in Uttarakhand, the State Public Works Department, which owns the state highways connecting district headquarters, has sought Rs 30 crore from the Centre. A top highways ministry official said they had received a request and it was put before the newly appointed Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Oscar Fernandes.

On the other hand, Border Roads Organization, which is responsible for upkeep of national highways (NHs) in the state, is yet to assess the loss and how much funds they need for restoration work. There will be no dearth of funds to bring normalcy. Once we get a request from BRO, we will address the issue. Besides our assistance, a portion of the Rs 1,000 crore assistance announced by the prime minister will also be spent on roads, the Minister said.

The State has over 34,000 km road network. Out of this, over 2,100 km is NH while the length of state highways is at least 1,600 km.

Almost all NHs and state highways in the Garhwal region have been damaged due to major landslides, submergence and damages. Data compiled by BRO and the Uttarakhand PWD show that NH-58 (Rishikesh-Mana), NH-74 (Haridwar-Chindiyapur), NH-94 (Rishikesh-Dharasu), NH-108 (Dharasu-Gangotri), NH-109 (Rudraprayag-Gaurikund) and NH-123 (Herbertpur-Barkot) falling within the state besides Dharasu-Yamunotri road have been badly damaged.