Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has hinted at constituting a high-level committee to monitor new road projects in the state.
“The roads sans proper drainage system will not be passed henceforth and a proper drainage and cross-drainage system would be made mandatory along all the roads in the state,” he asserted.
The high-level committee and monitoring teams to be constituted soon will look into the issue, he added, while presiding over a high-level meeting here late Thursday evening.
The chief minister said that the main cause of water seepage and cracks appearing in the roads causing huge damage to them was due to lack of proper drainage and cross-drainage systems. “Henceforth, the new road constructions which sans proper drainage systems will not be approved or passed”, he said, adding, that this could only be ensured by quality work at the time of construction.
The chief minister took a detailed report of the damages caused due to heavy rains and gave necessary directions to the officers.
He asked the Public Works Department to deploy adequate machinery and other equipment to restore the roads damaged by landslides and emphasized additional men and machinery to open the major blocked roads in district Mandi.
He said that scientific management would be ensured to prevent soil erosion and landslides on the river banks in the Kullu district. The National Highways Authority of India and the Public Works Department have been asked to take long-term measures in this regard.
“To cope with the calamities as the state witnessed recently, the state government has decided to provide two cranes each to all the companies of State Disaster Management Authorities (SDRF) in the state, to mitigate disasters and to be used in rescue operations,” said Sukhu.
Drones would also be made available to all District Disaster Management Authorities (DDMA) for mapping and monitoring besides providing goods and medicines to the people at the time of the disaster, he added.