Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday jointly assessed the aftermath of the recent disaster that ravaged Kullu district. Both the leaders visited five flood-hit areas and interacted with the people affected by the calamity besides seeking insights into their concerns during this challenging time. Union Minister Gadkari said, “People have suffered immensely and the situation was even worse than they would have imagined otherwise. There has been unprecedented damage to the roads, bridges and private property due to flash floods, landslides and cloudbursts triggered by heavy rains.”
He said that Rs 400 crore will be released by the Union Government under Central Road and Infrastructure Fund (CRIF) so that repair and restoration works can be undertaken on a war footing. “The NHAI will also bear the cost of repairing the link roads up to one kilometre along the National Highways in apple belts,” he added. The Chief Minister said that it was the first time that a disaster of such high magnitude struck the state. CM Sukhu said, “As the resources of the state were limited, the Union Government must extend help to Himachal generously at the earliest to aid relief and restoration efforts. The torrential rains in July this year caused extensive damage to roads and bridges at numerous places in the State, besides public and individual property. The Union Minister Nitin Gadkari quickly accepted my invitation to visit Himachal Pradesh, for which I am grateful to him.”
Gadkari assured that the Central Government will extend all possible help to the affected. The Union Minister added, “Huge portions of National Highways and other roads have been swept by the furious flow of the river and a technical team has been constituted to study probable causes and take measures to prevent such occurrences in the future. The team will visit the flood-hit areas in three to four days to assess and take stock of the situation.” Due to the accumulation of muck in the river bed, the river changed its course and adaptive measures will be taken to construct a concrete wall or channelise river beds wherever required.
