Floods damage over 600 rural roads in Punjab’s Mohali, Rupnagar and Patiala

Devastation by the incessant rains has completely paralysed the rural road infrastructure in Rupnagar, Mohali and Patiala district where nearly 600 rural roads have been damaged by the floods

Devastation by the incessant rains has completely paralysed the rural road infrastructure in Rupnagar, Mohali and Patiala district where nearly 600 rural roads have been damaged by the floods.

The common cause of the damage is the heavy flow of water over the road washing away the berms and brick edging. (File Photo)

In the assessment of the damaged to roads being done by the Public Works Department (PWD) taking into consideration the field reports, in Mohali district alone, 194 link roads have been damaged because of havoc created by the rains with nearly 252 kms of roads damaged which would need urgent repair. Second worst affected district is Rupnagar alone in whereas 170 roads have been partially or heavily damaged by the rains. The assessment by the department says, of the total 250 kms of rural network studied by the department so far, 170.61 kms have been affected which include around 60 small over-bridges which have completely paralysed the routine life in the district. Patiala district is the third worst affected area for roads whereas 150 roads have been damaged measuring around 160 kms as the affected patches. Senior PWD officials involved in the assessment says this is the worst ever damage to the rural roads faced ever by the department.

The common cause of the damage given in the assessment is the heavy flow of water over the road washing away the berms and brick edging. The reports latest received by Wednesday evening reveals that even the nine National Highways have been affected by the rains at various points. “We are in the process of calculating the budget needed to repair these roads and if there is no more rain, in a couple of days we would have the exact idea about the monetary roads,” said a chief engineer of the department.

As a temporary arrangement, the department claim to have temporarily repair few key roads but the officials claim it is a temporary arrangement and any more rain can again damage the temporary structures. “Our assessment is still on and the damage could increase further as Ghaggar is still creating devastation in Patiala and Sangrur districts,” another senior PWD official said.

CHANDIGARH: Rajya Sabha MP Vikramjit Singh Sahney on Thursday visited the flood-hit villages Burj, Awankot, Kiratpur Sahib Dana Mandi and Anandpur Sahib falling in Ropar district. He distributed waterproof tents, food packets, clean drinking water, basic medicines, mosquito repellents to the villagers. Sahney who accompanied cabinet minister Harjot Singh Bains also announced construct a flood protection dams and bundhs in the area, spending ₹ 50 lakh.