A short-term and long-term action plan have been worked out by the Public Works Department (PWD) to clear debris, repair potholes, reconstruct culverts, protection walls, drains, roads, bridges and buildings damaged in the monsoon fury in the State.
A sum of ₹5,815.25 crore is needed for the exchequer to execute the short-term and long-term works that will take 18 months.
The action plan, prepared on the basis of the assessment of the damages by the PWD engineers, presented to the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the Minister for Public Works G. Sudhakaran the other day, says a sum of ₹4,978.08 crore is needed for rebuilding the roads.
The PWD bridges wing will need ₹293.30 crore for the short-term and long-term rectification of the bridges, buildings section ₹10.09 crore and the National Highway (NH) wing ₹533.78 crore for short-term and long-term works for the NH corridors in the State.
Of the ₹4978.08 crore needed for road sector, a sum of ₹4005.23 crore is needed for road surface reconstruction. Debris clearing is estimated to cost ₹5.08 crore, landslip clearing ₹18.09 crore, pothole repair ₹368.42 crore and culvert reconstruction ₹64.19 crore.
Pothole repairs have to be carried out in 5,774 km of roads across the State, landslip clearing in 25 locations, short-term rectification of 182 bridges and long-term rectification of 218 bridges damaged in the floods this year.
Reconstruction of 470 culverts, construction of protection wall in 255.31 km, reconstruction of drains in 297.35 km and 34,732.45 km of road surface and another 156 km of National Highway stretches under the PWD will have to be relaid.
On a war footing
Mr. G. Sudhakaran said the works would be executed on a war footing as 11,000 km of PWD roads and 3,000 km NH corridors that had been damaged needed different type of repairs. Work had commenced with the ₹ 2000 crore sanctioned. “Priority of the government is to remove the debris, fill potholes and reconstruct roads damaged fully and to restore traffic at the earliest. Instructions have already been given to the Superintending Engineers, Executive Engineers,” he said.
The short-term measures chalked out by the PWD team led by Principal Secretary G. Kamalavardhana Rao included debris removal, pothole repairs, landslip clearing and bridge repairs. Reconstruction of the culverts, protection wall, drains, resurfacing and bridge works figure in the long-term measures of action plan.
