PIONEER NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun
Public Works minister Satpal Maharaj said that work is underway on war footing to reopen the 124 roads blocked in the State due to rain and landslides. He informed that a total of 154 roads had been blocked so far during the monsoon this year and 30 of these roads had been reopened for traffic till July 8.
Maharaj said that heavy rains and landslides had blocked 67 roads of the Public Works Department (PWD), out of which 12 have been reopened with work underway to reopen the remaining 55 roads. Similarly, one road under NH, two under Border Roads Organisation and one under NHIDCL are also closed to traffic. Sixteen out of 83 PMGSY roads blocked in the State have been reopened. The minister further said that a total of 644 machines have been deployed to work on war footing to reopen the 124 roads reported to be blocked as on Tuesday.
He also directed the departmental officials to answer calls on their mobile phones without fail during the monsoon so that information about blocked roads reaches the public on time. Considering the problems faced by travellers, there should be no laxity in reopening blocked roads. The travellers should also be informed in advance about any road blocked along with information about the alternate route during the monsoon , he said.
