Drive to Mangan stumbles at Ralak

MANGAN, 04 Jan: For the past couple of weeks the traffic to Mangan has been severely disrupted here at Ralak Kholeydara, 11 kms short of Mangan.
Light vehicles cannot cross over this stretch without the commuters themselves lending a hand in pushing the vehicles as a portion of the road has been damaged. It is difficult to comprehend the BRO’s inability to repair such a short stretch of road which is not even 10 feet long.
Commuters here are very disappointed with BRO’s negligence since it would not take even a whole day’s work to mend this stretch. “How can one expect good road conditions in monsoon when we have to face such difficulties even during the dry winter season?” commented one of the commuters from North Sikkim while speaking to NOW!

Get serious BRO!

HIGH COURT NOT CONVINCED BY ‘UNREALISTIC’ PROJECTIONS ON NORTH ROADS

GANGTOK, 02 Dec: The State government has sought more time to file an affidavit in the High Court regarding various aspects of road construction in North Sikkim, including timeframe for clearances. This is in regard to the PIL in the court by the Public and Panchayat of North Sikkim when the matter came up on 20 November.
Earlier, when the matter had come up for hearing in October, the division bench noted that it was not impressed by the compliance report filed by the army road agency. The Court noted that timeframe indicated in the report for obtaining approval/ permissions from various authorities including forest clearance and also the time frame for construction of road/ bridges between Dikchu and Sangkalang “…is unrealistic”.
In fact it had been submitted that Forest clearance would require 210 days while the time requirement mentioned for construction of a small stretch of road and bridges was 4 to 5 years. There were no details as to how this much time is required for the works, the court noted.
The court had then directed that a fresh affidavit be filed as the present one was unsatisfactory. Furthermore, it noted from the compliance report that some local contractors were not responding to the NIT issued by BRO. As such it then gave BRO the liberty to “…engage contractors from outside the state notwithstanding any circular or direction of the state government in this regard”.
The division bench noted that this direction was being issued in the interest of the public of North Sikkim “…who are suffering because of the non-availability of local labourers / contractors.”
At the same time the court observed that security aspect of the area must be taken care of while engaging outside agencies.
The court had also directed that local inhabitants were not to prevent the BRO from widening the Dikchu-Sangkalang road up to 54 feet width. This was issued as it had been submitted that the BRO was attempting to widen the road by taking private land without paying compensation. On this aspect, the court noted that the matter of compensation would be taken up at the appropriate time. The BRO was also directed to increase its manpower for maintenance of the 26 km stretch of Dikchu-Sangkalang road.
The road is a primary link for the people of the area and they have been suffering hardships due to the incomplete and pending road construction. Even land acquisition process had been initiated under court directions for improvement and widening of the road and construction of bridges.
Earlier the court had taken strong exception to the apparent lackadaisical attitude of the administration and other agencies towards their duties and had come down heavily on both the state and army agencies. It had also earlier observed that of the stretch of 21 km of the Dikchu-Sangkalang road only 1 km stretch of black topping was done in one year.
Appearing for the state respondents was the Additional AG while for the central government it was Advocate Karma Thinlay. Also appearing as Amicus was Advocate DR Thapa.

BRO begins blacktopping of Rangpo-Rorathang road

GANGTOK, 19 Nov: The Border Roads Organisation has begun the blacktopping of the Rangpo-Rorathang road in East Sikkim. This work has been taken up by the BRO in addition to its black topping work underway in Gangtok where it has been engaged in black topping of the Ranipool – Gangtok highway for the past almost one year.
In an appeal to the public the BRO has requested that commuters and others desist from using the Rangpo-Rorathang stretch between 10:30 AM to 4:30 PM for the next three weeks.
As informed by the BRO, it will take around 3 weeks to complete the blacktopping of the road stretch which is 10.91 km in length.
Additionally, it may be informed that the Rangpo to Rorathang road was previously under the state PWD and recently handed over to the BRO. The road agency has also appealed to the state police in a letter dated 14 November to assist it in the road carpeting. The police has deployed 2 personnel but apparently this is not sufficient for the BRO to execute its work without interruption.

WINTER SLUDGE!

This lonely, off-season patch of sludge has not only become an eyesore, but vehicles commuting along this route in Bojoghari near the Shiv Mandir which falls under the Gangtok Municipal Corporation also come out sore after they struggle their way across it. A ‘temporary arrangement’ for making ‘masala’ used in road construction was set up here almost 6 months ago but work has been stalled for the past month or so. This arrangement had roughed up the patch of road here and workers were seeing to it that the road was motorable, however, with the work stalled and no workers in sight, the condition of the road has worsened. Small cars are now getting stuck at the spot on a routine basis and have to be pushed out of the sludge. A leak in a water source at the spot has made matters worse. Meanwhile, construction material and equipment lie abandoned at the spot now.

Overnight rain flushes away North Sikkim Highway

District officials negotiate a stretch of what used to be a section of the North Sikkim Highway at Chiyandara near Singhik a few kms ahead of Mangan towards Chungthang.

WANGCHUK BHUTIA
MANGAN, 20 Sept: Heavy overnight rainfall has severely compromised the Mangan-Chungthang road connectivity with the stretch disrupted at several spots by landslides. As per data posted by the Meteorological Office Gangtok on its website, 196.6 mm rainfall was recorded in Mangan today. Interestingly, the Met Office’s forecast for Mangan had been 10 mm of rainfall.
The road is blocked at Singhik, a few kilometers out of Mangan towards Chungthang where the road formation has been washed out and a slide has also damaged a section at Chiyandara near Singhik.
The damage at Lanthey Khola further up is the most challenging with an 80 metre stretch of the road washed away by a massive slide. This will take at least 20 days to restore and repair for vehicular traffic and at present even transshipment is not possible for commuters.
The road is also blocked at Theng and the Toong-Shipgyer alternative is also blocked.
Mangan SDM, PW Lepcha, along with TO (Training Officer) and QRT (Quick respond Team) of Mangan EOC (Emergency Operation Center) Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority (SSDMA) under Land Revenue Department walked up to Lanthey Khola on an inspection today and to assess the condition.  The team could not proceed beyond Lanthey Khola due to the massive slide there.
The Border Roads Organisation managed to clear the Mangan-Pakshep road by afternoon today, only light vehicles can ply on it at present especially in light of the damage suffered by the North Sikkim Highway near Mangan Bazar at Rabong Khola.
Similarly, the Mangan-Dzongu road is also blocked near Sangakalang as is the Sangkalang-Ringdang road where two landslips are blocking the road.
The road to Upper Dzongu is also blocked at two places near Namprikdang.
While restoration works have begun, given the severity of some of the slides, no projections are being offered on by when the roads can be restored.

Overnight rain brings down NH 31A in a heap of slides

ANAND OBEROI
SILIGURI, 14 Sept: Last night’s heavy rains lashed through the reckless back-cutting works along National Highway 31A littering landslides which threw up serpentine traffic snarls throughout the Gangtok-Siliguri stretch. It took most commuters up to 10 hours to make the Gangtok to Siliguri journey today as the negotiated the slides in one-way files as GREF personnel worked to clear the debris.
The first slide, while moving from Sikkim to Siliguri was near Kirney between Rangpo and Melli where nearly 50 meters of the road where back cutting works have been carried out came down in a heap of debris and trees that had blocked the road completely last night.
A little further, and another section of road about 6 kms ahead, near Chitrey, had also given way just short of Lepcha Jhora Bridge. After negotiating the uneven and dangerous active slides here, the traffic jammed again near Teesta and then a few more slides along the Luku Bhir stretch.
Agitated commuters were obviously frustrated, many pointing out that this state of the road so close to the Durga Puja tourist season did not bode well for the tourism sector in the entire region.
Minor slides littered the highway from Teesta to Sevoke with substantial blocks at 29 Mile, another back cutting spot just before Lohapool, and then at two spots near Kalijhora.
With a slight drizzle throughout today, crossing and negotiating the roads posed a risk as all the slides were unstable and rocks and debris kept on falling even as vehicles passed.
Even ambulances were stuck, as were people who had trains or flights to catch because someone who left Gangtok at 10 a.m. reached Siliguri only by 6p.m. today.

Road to Lachung expected to open on Saturday

MANGAN, 07 Sept: The traffic to Lachung, which was blocked here at Khedum a few kilometers short of Lachung, is expected to resume, weather permitting, from Saturday onwards. Although the road had been opened for traffic yesterday following completion of the new road formation, fresh slides disrupted traffic again.
The road to Lachung has been blocked since 06 August when around 150 metres of the road formation was washed out by landslides caused by incessant rain.  The BRO and Army had since been engaged in restoration works.
This slide had also damaged the power supply line to Lachung and many vehicles have been stranded at Lachung. The only option for commuters was transshipment from right above the slide which took an hour.
It may be mentioned here that the traffic to Lachung was also blocked for two months last year after the 18 September earthquake when a huge slide washed away around 200 meters of road formation just about 50 meters ahead of this slide.
Meanwhile, the people of Lachung had placed a demand petition to the Chief Secretary during his visit to North Sikkim last month for an alternate route from the right bank of the river to bypass this slide.

HC pulls up NHPC over unsatisfactory maintenance of roads under its care

GANGTOK, 04 Sept: The High Court of Sikkim has pulled up the National Hydro Electricity Power Corporation [NHPC] for unsatisfactory maintenance and progress of work on roads entrusted to them.
The High Court has directed NHPC to file an affidavit regarding the steps taken by the corporation with respect to the responsibilities allotted to them. Sections of the Singtam-Dikchu highway have been placed under NHPC’s charge for maintenance and repairs since, till recently, they were the heaviest users of this stretch of road. NHPC, the court observed, has not discharged satisfactorily enough on these works.
The observations and directions were made when the High Court was hearing the suo moto case take up in 2010 against the Secretary, Ministry of Surface Transport and others regarding the 31-A National Highway which is being maintained by the Border Roads Organisation.
On 03 September, the division bench headed by Chief Justice Permod Kohli and including Justice SP Wangdi, passed directions to all 10 respondents, including the State Public Works Department and NHPC, to file fresh affidavits on a quarterly basis updating the progress of works.
The High Court has also pulled up the Project Swastik and BRO and directed the respondents to take a decision regarding clearance of the projects, components, grant of sanction, completion of survey not later than three months adding that failure of the concerned authorities to comply with the direction shall be taken seriously.
The High Court has also directed the Central Government Standing Counsel, Karma Thinlay to serve a copy of the order to all concerned for compliance within two weeks.
The latest orders of the High Court have come in the light of the affidavit filed by BRO, Project Swastik in its quarter report with respect to the various projects undertaken by them. The High Court slammed BRO that except the works in Phase-I, which relates to improvement of trouble spots, there is not much progress regarding the other works.
“Even in most of the works, the clearance from the concerned authorities and departments is still awaited, the further progress of all the components of the works has come to a stand-still”, the High Court observed.
It further pointed out that there has been lackluster approach by the authorities at every step, at the stage of clearance of the projects by various agencies and authorities, surveys, sanction of the project, allocation of fund and issuance of NIT etc. Most of the works have not been allotted and even where some works have been approved by the authorities, further process has not taken place.
On the other hand, the court further said that the first affidavit filed by Superintendent Engineer of Road and Bridges department, Government of Sikkim regarding the work on 9th Mile, 31-A National Highway executed by State Public Works Department has already commenced.
However, the court has expressed its concerns that the work was entrusted to the PWD in March 2009 and it has taken three years to complete the process of allotment, which is not justified. The works entrusted to PWD is being executed since February 2012 and as per the terms of allotment/agreement, the work is to be completed by the end of February 2015.
The High Court has directed PWD that the work should be executed at the required pace and completed within the scheduled period since the work entrusted to the department has already commenced.

Road to Lachung to be restored within 12 days

MANGAN, 24 Aug:  The road to Lachung [yes, there needs to be a road somewhere in the landslide shown above] will be restored within the next 12 days informed Chief Engineer BRO, Rajiv Sawney while speaking to NOW! today.
Around 150 metres of road formation a few kilometres short of Lachung has been washed away by a landslide and undertaking restoration work has been very difficult, the CE said.
BRO is carrying out restoration with the deployment of more excavators and JCBs at the spot to reconstruct the road formation.  The road here at Khedum was blocked by new landslides that occurred here on 06 August this month due to heavy rain.
The people of Lachung have to undertake transhipment at this spot with a one-hour walk on foot above the slide and there are further difficulties in transhipment of essential commodities, informed the Pipon of Lachung, Karma Lachungpa.
It may be mentioned here that around 500 metres of road here was damaged by a slide triggered by last year’s earthquake and this year the road has been blocked by a new slide that has occurred next to the previous slide.
Meanwhile, the people of Lachung have demanded the construction of an alternate road towards the left bank of the river.

Missing covers over drains

GANGTOK, 23 July: Carpeting work on the National Highway leading out of Gangtok by the BRO has been going on for quite some time now. During the carpeting, covers of the storm water drains along the road are often removed and put back in place later. However, at various places in the capital the drains remain uncovered despite work having been completed a while back. These uncovered spots along the road can lead to a major mishap any day.
Right in front of the new Secretariat situated at Development Area, four covers are missing from over the roadside drain. Many people have complained about this as people, especially those walking at night could just fall into the drain through one of these uncovered spots.

Dzongu cut off

MANGAN, 15 July: The heavy downpour of Saturday night disrupted traffic at several places in North Sikkim. Dzongu has been cut off from the rest of the state as the road is blocked at Ring Khola in Upper Dzongu.
Similarly, the road to lower Dzongu was also blocked at Hee-Gyathang, Kabar Dara, Maney Khola and Gnon-Sangdong in lower Dzongu where some portions of the road formation has been washed out by the heavy rain.
The road was also blocked at Chandey, a few kilometers ahead of Sangkalang towards Mangan. Commuters here have to walk on foot for 4kms from Hee-Gyathang to Gnon-Sangdong. Restoration work on the road which falls under BRO is yet to begin, it being a Sunday today.

Section of Ravangla-Zarong road washed away, traffic temporarily restored

NAMCHI, 12 July: Last night’s torrential rainfall in the Ravangla belt of South Sikkim washed away the the Ravangla-Zarong road formation at 10th KM. 
Following prompt action by the concerned department, traffic has been restored temporarily and immediate restoration work has also begun. Meanwhile, RM&DD Ravangla Sub-Division has engaged an excavator and casual labourers for clearing slips at various PMGSY roads like 9th mile turning, Sanganath, Tingmo, Ravangla, Deythang.
On the other hand, the house of one Tika Ram Limbu of Namphok ward under Sripatam-Gagyong Gram Panchayat Unit has been severely damaged by a slide. No casualties have been reported and the occupants have been shifted to a safer place as per information provided by BDO, Yangang.
Meanwhile, the Bhaley Khola foot bridge was made operational on 10 July.

Skies open up, NH 31A slips out

ALL EIGHT TROUBLESPOTS ACTIVE, BIRIK DARA AHEAD OF LOHA POOL THE BIGGEST HEADACHE


ANAND OBEROI
GANGTOK, 08 July: With areas in Darjeeling district through which the NH 31A courses on the way to Siliguri receiving up to 24 cm of rain on a daily basis through most of last week, it was only a matter of time before the national highway started receiving slips and slides to stall traffic. And now the trouble-spots have started acting up with each one creating a traffic snarl of its own as GREF workers and machines clear the slush and debris.
The most imposing slide this season has been the one at Birik Dara, about an hour’s drive out of Siliguri [slightly short of Lohapool] while proceeding towards Sikkim. The slope above the highway here failed on 05 July and refused vehicular crossover for 24 hours. The 120 metre stretch remains active and unstable and requires constant pressing of men and machinery to keep clear. A considerable section of the highway on the valley side has also slipped away here with dislodged sections of retaining walls poking through the slush below.
GREF (BRO) has deployed five JCB excavators, hundreds of laborers, trucks and bulldozers at this section but this remains a bottleneck with waits of more than 2 hours becoming a routine delay for commuters here.
Met officials at the spot informed now that three districts of West Bengal – Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Coochbehar – have been receiving extremely heavy rainfall through the past week and add that the forecast for the coming week suggests that the weather pattern will continue. Even they advise against travel on NH 31A after dark, explaining that with heavier downpours forecast for the night-time, the slide zones are bound to act up, making such travel risky.
Daytime travel, while safer, is only tortuous for the long waits that one-way traffic over the trouble zones [the worst being Birik Dara] working in fits and starts in between BRO work on clearing the debris. Traffic jams snake upto seven kilometers on both sides at this spot sometimes.
Earlier, even transhipment was not an option since the slide was too dangerously active, throwing down boulders and slush on a regular basis, To avoid the traffic snarls, several drivers are opting for the Lava, Kalimong detour which takes about three hours longer than the normal travel time. Needless to add, complaints of overcharging have also coming up in this regard.
“We have issued warnings to all concerned authorities of very heavy rains forecast for the weeks ahead. Continuous torrential downpours have wreaked havoc at almost all the eight declared trouble-spots on NH 31A with new slides and mud-slips getting reported with every rain. Vehicular movement is definitely going to get disrupted,” Darjeeling district police personnel deployed at Birik Dara to manage traffic and people said.

Road uncertainties begin

GANGTOK, 14 June: The road to Nathula has been blocked due to slides pushed down by heavy rainfall over the past 24 hours in several places between 7th Mile to Sherathang on the Jawaharlal Nehru Marg. The Border Road Organisation (BRO) is working round-the-clock to clear the road, however, the continuous rainfall has made progress difficult.
These days, BRO is facing various challenges due to heavy landslides together with ongoing widening and upgradation work along the National Highway.
Commuters travelling on the National Highway between Singtam and Marchak near Ranipool are also facing several problems due to fresh slide s. Road widening work along the NH 31A has triggered multiple slides in different places- mainly near the Govt Fruit Preservation Factory (Sikkim Supreme), Topakhani, Sang Khola, 9th Mile, 11th Mile and Nimtar.
Hundreds of tourists were stranded and commuters complained of the poor condition of NH31-A between Singtam to Marchak adding that there are more than five areas hit by major and minor slides which have occurred over the past couple of days.

Samdong-Gangtok road in need of urgent repairs

MANGAN, 01 June: The people of different villages of Samdong-Kambal and Rakdong-Tintek GPUs have expressed their gratitude to the PWD Department for developing the alternate route linking these villages to the capital. However, the residents of these villages also want to bring to the notice of the department that there is need for proper maintenance of the Samdong-Gangtok road.
The Samdong-Gangtok road via Pangthang is an important link for the entire North Sikkim and is in dire need of maintenance. This route is much shorter and easier for the commuters plying to North Sikkim and apart from it, the tourist vehicles, the VIPs and VVIPs plying to North Sikkim from the capital also use this route as there are very few slides along this stretch.
The 26-km Samdong-Gangtok road which was black topped many years back is now in urgent need of repair. This stretch has a total of 49 culverts which need to be patched up and the carpeting on the road has worn out as well.
President, Rukdong Iytbu Numpu Azum [RINA], a Rakdong based NGO, Topden Tshering Lepcha, while speaking to NOW! expressed that once repaired this would make it very convenient for the local people especially in times of emergency.

Foundation stone laid, Theng tunnel still awaits work to begin

MANGAN, 31 May: Construction of the 600-metre tunnel proposed by the Border Road Organisation [BRO] to negotiate the Theng slide-zone [pic above] on the Chungthang-Mangan axis is yet to begin. The proposed tunnel will bypass the notorious zone at Theng Bhir where a number of accidents have been reported in the past. Several vehicles have been crushed and many people have lost their lives while negotiating this slide. This section has worsened since the 18 September earthquake with the only solution being a tunnel through the slip zone.
After the 18 September earthquake, large portions of the cliff have developed cracks posing even greater threat to vehicles crossing the spot now. People of North Sikkim had welcomed the proposal of a tunnel here as a good initiative but are still waiting for construction to commence. This route is one of the life lines of North District which links the district with the border areas.
It may be recalled here that the Chief Minister had laid the foundation stone for the said tunnel during his visit to North Sikkim last year in the presence of senior BRO officials. The people of North district contend that they are yet to see any sign of work by the BRO on this spot and want the tunnel work to be expedited.

First motorable road from Sikkim to Nepal being developed through Uttarey

ANAND OBEROI
GANGTOK, 18 April: Sikkim’s border with Nepal in West district, a traditional highway of sorts in the days of past, will now be spanned with a link road across Chewa-Bhanjhyang above Uttarey in West Sikkim. When this project, already in an advanced stage from either side, is completed, it will become the first motorable road from Sikkim into Nepal.
The road, it is learnt, is being constructed by both countries from their respective sides. While construction on the Sikkim side is still in its initial stages, the road on the Nepal side is almost complete, having reached 2.5 km off the Sikkim border. While there may be some strategic reasons for the construction of such a permanent link, the road is also being seen as one which will facilitate tourism in a big way in the form of making trekking easier and appeal to international tourists as well.
On the Sikkim side, the last hamlet en route to the pass is Uttarey, about 12 km from the border. The final 12 km span is being constructed under the Border Area Development Programme (BADP).
The pass is a much frequented one with people from either side crossing over frequently. It is not uncommon from youth from Sikkim to even travel into Nepal during festivals to participate in village level sports events there. This traditional linkage has been hampered to some extent with SSB having replaced SAP at the pass, but the bond remain close. The pass also straddles the Singalila trek along the border and Uttarey has developed as an important trekking launch point in the recent years.
While Uttarey is accessible only on foot from the pass, three large excavators have been on the job at the route for the past three months, scratching out an alignment for a motorable road to replace the trekking trail.
The road on the Nepal side, it is informed, has already reached Chanpathuk, the Nepal army check post which is around 2 kilometers from Chewa Bhanjhyang and has a population of around 1,500 people, mostly Nepal army personnel stationed there. It is also informed that the road construction has already crossed Torkey village which is 5 kilometers just a couple of days back.
The West Sikkim District Collector, Santa Pradhan informs that the proposal for the road from Uttarey to Chewa Bhangyang was sanctioned around five months back and that work on it has already been commissioned and is under progress.
The DC informs that since the only route to Chewa Bhangyang and other “incredible tourist locations” like Kalijhar and Phoktey Dara along the Singalila range is a trekking trail, there is a section of national and international tourists who can never get to experience the beauty of this area because of the 12 kilometer steep uphill trek which they cannot negotiate.
“With the development of the motorable road, the number of tourists to these areas will grow because of the convenient accessibility. Work is underway but there are still some issues that need to be worked out for the road to be completed, the importance of this strategic location cannot be ruled out which is also why the road is being constructed,” informs the DC.

Forest clearance holds up progress on Sikkim side
GANGTOK, 20 April: Bureaucratic red tape is reportedly proving to be a hindrance in the progress of the Sikim-Nepal road project. As of now only 5 kilometers of road from Sotakha to Chewa Bhangyang via Jorebhotey has been constructed. Forest Clearance is the cause of the delay for the development of the remaining 13 kilometers, it is informed.
Speaking to NOW! , SE, Roads & Bridges Department, Mr. Subba informed that 13 kilometers of the road will have to be constructed through the Kanchenjunga Biosphere Wildlife sanctuary for which the clearance is yet to come from the department.
“A majority of the road falls inside the sanctuary, the clearance for which is causing the delay. We are hopeful though that the clearance will come through after which we will begin construction from our side of the border. I know it will take time but we have already submitted all relevant documents and our proposal,” stated Mr. Subba.
Meanwhile, the road coming up from the Nepal side is expected to be completed within a week. What worries the Uttarey residents is that if the Nepal side reaches the pass much ahead of them, they will have that much more time to take the lead in promoting the locations for tourism and get exclusive access to interested travellers.

SLUDGED OUT

GANGTOK, 20 April: Sludge from the Army compound just above National Highway 31A near Sikkim Jewels in Tadong last evening disturbed traffic flow along the stretch last night and early this morning. A joint effort by Tadong Outpost personnel, Traffic Police personnel and GREF workers managed to clear some of the sludge on the road to allow vehicular movement at around 8 AM. Traffic, however, remained affected throughout the day.

Priming for a cave-in

The above photograph is of a section of the NH 31A in Gangtok. It is not just a ditch common to the stretches where the fresh black-topping has not reached yet and is one which a superficial layer of tarmac will not save. This is a cave-in in the making at Tadong near the Police Check-Post. The sink sits directly above a major jhora and is already deep enough to trouble even a bus engine. When the bottom gives away here, it will leave a gaping hole staring straight into the jhora below. Thus far, no agency appears to even have noticed it, repairs thus are still awaited....

Earthquake Damaged roads to be repaired on War footing by next Monsoon instructs CM

FUNDS READY FOR R&B DEPTT TO UNDERTAKE ROAD REPAIRS
GANGTOK, 16 Feb: The state Roads & Bridges department is finally all set to repair the damaged road network in the state with the government finally ready to release funds to the department. In fact, and as per the instructions of the chief minister, the department is targeting late February or early March by when work should commence as the repair works of damaged roads have to be completed before the onset of the next monsoon rains. As Secretary, GS Sharma stated, this is also the direction of the chief minister that road repair works should be completed as soon as possible for the convenience of the public as well as the tourists. Once work commences, it will be undertaken on a war footing, as the R&B Secretary stated.
The department is expecting funds to the tune of Rs.150 crore to Rs.200 crore for taking up repair and reconstruction of damaged roads in the state. This amount is to be released promptly and it is informed by the Secretary, R&B that the Detailed Project Reports are also on the verge of completion and which will be submitted to the state government within the week. These DPRs, prepared for the amount released, will then be forwarded to the Ministry of Home Affairs, government of India. There is also the direction of the CM that the DPRs be submitted immediately.
The R&B department had initially made a DPR of Rs.1700 crore for undertaking all repair and reconstruction of roads damaged by the earthquake of 18 September, 2012. However as the central government is releasing funds under different sources and schemes the funds are being released piecemeal and for which the department had to rework on its DPRs for re-submission. It was also informed that the centre has assured that there will be more funds coming in the next financial year for the undertaking of road repairs and for which the department would again have to prepare another set of DPRs.
Secretary, GS Sharma informed that the extent of repair works to be undertaken will be according to the funds that the department will receive. In this respect it was informed that only those portions of roads which have been damaged will be repaired. The number of roads to be repaired will also depend on the amount released. Some roads which have been totally damaged would have to be carpeted again totally that is, 100%; other roads will receive carpeting depending on the extent of damage, which may range from 30% to 40% or 50% of the road length depending on the damage extent.
The department is targeting getting the roads ready by May or first week of June and the government is also seized of the fact that for this to be possible work has to commence immediately. Following the normal process of issuing tender notices etc takes a minimum of 45 days which would delay the repair works to be undertaken. In such a scenario where there is the need of urgency, especially in view of public convenience, there is a possibility that the government may decide to do the work departmentally and which is also provided for in the SPWD Code under a special provision.