By Our Staff Reporter
Rudraprayag, 5 Aug: Secretary, Public Works Department (PWD), Pankaj Pandey, Secretary, Disaster Management, Vinod Kumar Suman, Secretary and Garhwal Commissioner Vinay Shankar Pandey, Chief Engineer, National Highway, Dayanand conducted a walking inspection and aerial survey of the affected areas of Kedar Valley today. During the inspection, taking stock of the damaged routes, the Secretary, PWD, directed officials to prepare a priority plan to restore the washed-out road between Sonprayag and Gaurikund and start work immediately.
After the inspection, the senior officials also sought suggestions from all the departments concerned to make the pedestrian route to Kedarnath smooth within 15 days. For this, instructions were given to prepare an estimate of the mandatory reconstruction works and start work within next 2 to 3 days.
Secretary Pankaj Pandey and Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman directed the officials that the process of constructing a temporary route in the washed-out road between Sonprayag and Gaurikund should also be started immediately. For speedy construction of roads and footpaths, different contractors should be given work at each site. They asserted that one Assistant Engineer and one Junior Engineer be posted at each site. Pandey said that in any kind of reconstruction work, both practical and technical aspects should be taken care of. Also, for all the works that are proposed, pre-posting of construction material should be done at every possible site.
PWD officials said that about 15 metres of the area near Ghoda Padao near Gaurikund has been washed out, apart from this, there is a 60-metre road washout in Junglechatti. Working at the above two sites will be the most challenging. They added that in all work is to be done at a total of 29 sites for the restoration of pedestrian route.
On this occasion, it was also proposed to use the Kedarnath, Garudchatti, Lincholi route, which has not been affected by this heavy rain, as an alternative route. There are also preparations to bring 10 folding bridges from different places to Kedarnath via Chinook or footpath. Secretary, PWD, directed that at least 10 workers should be deployed on each site and more workers be deployed as per requirement on bigger sites. Along with this, instructions were also given to deploy 500 workers on the entire route.
Garhwal Commissioner Vinay Shankar Pandey directed the officials to send proposals to the government on priority basis for all reconstruction works. He also asked for plans from the concerned departments for the supply of electricity, water, connectivity and food items. On the other hand, the officials of the Electricity Department informed that poles have been damaged in Gaurikund Lincholi and Bhimbali, apart from this, the 11KV substation near Sonprayag is also facing threat. Garhwal Commissioner directed them to prepare a proposal for the construction of a new substation by identifying new land for the substation and checking the quality and other parameters of the land.
District Magistrate, Rudraprayag, Saurabh Gaharwar shared detailed information about the restoration of roads and footpaths, efforts being made for rescue and relief work of the pilgrims, the work done so far and the preparations being made to start the Kedarnath Yatra. Superintendent of Police Dr Vishakha Ashok Bhadane shared information about the preparations being made by the security forces in sensitive areas.
