State roads ruined in snow, rain

Tribune News Service

Shimla, March 3

Revenue Minister Kaul Singh Thakur today said the government was monitoring the situation on real-time basis due to snowfall in higher reaches and intermittent rain in lower belts of the state.

He said all possible steps were being taken to bring normalcy in the areas which suffered the brunt of heavy rain and snow. He said 160 link roads were affected and work was going on on a war-footing to restore vehicular traffic. He added that traffic had been restored till Bhava Nagar in Kinnaur.

As per reports reaching here, 140 villages in Chamba were facing power disruption and the work to restore the electricity was in full swing. The power supply in some parts of Kinnuar and Lahaul-Spiti had also been affected. He said barring a few areas, the water supply was normal in the state and directions had been issued to all Deputy Commissioners to monitor the situation and get the repair and renovation works done on priority.

Ravi Thakur, Vice-Chairman of the National Tribal Commission, and MLA from Lahaul-Spiti urged Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh that a survey must be done by rescue teams as life had come to a standstill and there was no communication with several villages.

“The moment weather clears up, helicopter service must be restored so that patients can be evacuated and students, who have to appear in examinations, can be ferried to Kullu,” he urged.

Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue) Tarun Shridhar said all departments had been asked to be on their toes to provide relief to the people, besides restoring the essential services. As per reports, around 24 roads were affected in Solan district due to landslips which would be opened in a day or two.

An alert has been issued in tribal areas and the people have been asked not to venture out due to fear of avalanches and landslides. “Sufficient funds have been provided to all Deputy Commissioners and other departments to carry out relief and restoration works,” said Shridhar.

He said the Irrigation and Public Health Department, PWD and Electricity Department had been directed to depute additional manpower for restoring the roads, pipelines and electricity.

The government was monitoring the situation and was taking all adequate measures to restore the essential services, he added.