By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 3 Oct: The monsoon season is almost over in Uttarakhand. This year, except for certain districts like Pauri, rainfall has been recorded in excess of the normal range. The heavy monsoon has caused very wide damage in the state this year. At least 82 persons are reported to have died in monsoon triggered incidents while another 28 persons are still reported missing and are now being ‘considered’ dead.
At least 3483 private houses have been reported to be totally or partially damaged this season. Due to the excessive rains this year, roads worth around Rs 255 crores were damaged, though so far the government has released only around Rs 35 crores for the repair of the roads. According to the PWD, an additional amount of at least Rs 34 crores is required to do patch work on the damaged roads to allow for traffic movement.
In view of its Himalayan topography, Uttarakhand is considered very sensitive in terms of natural disasters. Every year the monsoon season leaves the state with a string of natural disasters. As per the official figures, this season, around 4000 roads were closed intermittently during the season. As of now, 2389 roads are reported to be still closed, if inner and link roads that are closed are also included. Among the important roads, the pedestrian track from Sonprayag to Kedarnath remained closed for a significant part of the season. In addition, 14 National Highways were also closed during the season.
The majority of these roads have been temporarily opened for now, but they need major repairs in order to bring them into good working condition. During the season, a total of 16 bridges were completely damaged in the state, while 39 bridges were partially damaged. Out of the 16 totally damaged bridges, only 5 bridges have been rebuilt so far while temporary alternate arrangements have been made for the remaining bridges. Minor repairs are in progress in respect of the partially damaged bridges.
It may be recalled that PWD has demanded an amount of Rs 255.10 crores for the repair or reconstruction of damaged roads but excluding the amount for repair of roads and treks in Kedar Valley, only an amount of Rs 34.62 crores has been received by the department. As per the planning section of the PWD, an amount of Rs 29.41 crores is required for repairs of the closed roads just to open them on a temporary basis, while an amount of Rs 214.78 crores is needed to permanently bring them back to their pre-monsoon condition. PWD’s Planning Section has also asserted that an amount of Rs 3 crores is needed for the temporary repair of the motor bridges damaged during the monsoon season. The requirement for permanent repair of the damaged bridges has been estimated at around Rs 40 crores. PWD’s Planning Section has estimated that an amount of Rs 255.10 crores is required for permanent repair of the damaged roads but in order to make the damaged roads motorable in a temporary manner, an amount of Rs 42.43 crores is immediately requires and has been sought from the state government.
According to the state government, so far, an amount of Rs 30 crores has been released to PWD under the SDRF head and an additional amount of Rs 4.62 crores from the funds at the disposal of the District Magistrates in various districts.
According to the complaints received in various districts, 2953 buildings have been partially damaged in this monsoon season while 405 private buildings suffered severe damage while 122 buildings were completely razed to the ground or just swept away by debris. According to Disaster Management Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman, the damage is being assessed continuously and may be revised further. He also claimed that ex-gratia payment against damages or loss of lives has been paid or is being paid in every case in accordance with the rules. It remains to be seen how early the damaged roads and the bridges are repaired or reconstructed as the monsoon is over now.
