Mandi villagers struggle to restore normalcy

Dipender Manta

Tribune News Service

Mandi, January 17

A fresh spell of snow yesterday blocked roads in the remote areas of Karsog, Gohar and Padhar areas in Mandi. The Public Works Department had a tough time trying to restore it. There were reports that power supply was snapped in many areas. A number of villages here have already been reeling under the dark since the first snowfall on January 6.

Official sources told The Tribune that 31 roads leading to various villages in Mandi district in remote areas like Karsog, Gohar and Padhar were affected with the fresh snowfall and restoration work was underway in the area.

Kartar Chand, Superintendent Engineer, PWD, Mandi circle, said there were around 80 roads blocked or damaged because of heavy snowfall in the upper region and torrential rain in the lower region. Yesterday’s snowfall hampered the snow clearance work, he added.

“A majority of roads has been opened for vehicular traffic, while 31 roads are still under the snow and efforts are on to restore it. In the next one or two days, we will be able to restore it if the weather remains favourable,” he said.

The yesterday’s snowfall added to the woes of the villagers of the remote areas as they were already bearing the brunt of the earlier snowfall that snapped the electricity and road connectivity to the area.

The Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Department, Mandi, succeeded in repairing a majority of transformers in the district. However, 28 transformers are still non-functional.

The slow pace of restoration work has added to the misery of people living in remote villages as it may take more time for the PWD and the Electricity Department to restore the road and power supply in the region.

PR Ratan, Superintendent Engineer, Electricity Department, said the restoration work was on progress and it would take some more time to restore power supply in villages.

Deputy Commissioner Sandeep Kadam said the district administration was struggling hard to provide relief in snow-affected areas and officials of the PWD and the Electricity Department were on their job to restore transportation and power supply.