Preventing landslides with drainage

Kuldeep Chauhan in Shimla

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Y A raut, Manager (Technical), National Highway Authority of India, says there is need for a separate engineering wing to oversee the drainage system of roads and culverts in the hills.

“If the problem of landslides needs to be plugged, we must construct concrete culverts for the safe passage of flash floods that wreak havoc on infrastructure, wash  away culverts and breach the roads,” he says.

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As of now, there aren’t even proper side drains along the roads. The ones that have been laid are not technically sound, Raut points. “The location of culverts is not proper as local geology and runoff in the nullahs are not taken into account before construction. It is imperative to construct side drains and cross drains wherever required. In the absence of these drains, water enters structures or flows sideways, flooding the nearby houses and villages,” he adds.

But how do we tackle the problem? Raut says the solution lies in proper design and maintenance. “We need a separate engineering wing to monitor and design the right culverts and drains. Until we introduce these, the state will continue to suffer huge damage to infrastructure due to floods,” he says.

To deal with problem areas, State Geologist Puneet Guleria suggests geological investigations of flood-prone areas. He feels the Public Works Department needs to involve the mining department during construction of roads and not just when rains and floods lead to collapse of entire sites. “If the two departments work together on the design and construction of roads and bridges in such eco-sensitive zones, the problems of landslides can be checked,” he says.