The Hindu : Karnataka News : 687 km of road damaged in tsunami-hit areas

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jan 12, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka

687 km of road damaged in tsunami-hit areas

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, JAN. 11. The Secretary, Union Ministry for Road Transport and Highways, Dhanendra Kumar, has said that 687 km of road, 14 bridges, and 78 culverts have been damaged in the tsunami-hit areas.

Addressing presspersons at the 65th annual session of the Indian Roads Congress here on Monday, Mr. Kumar said that five teams of officials and engineers of the Union Ministry for Road Transport and Highways visited the States and the Union Territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Pondicherry and inspected the extent of damage to roads and bridges.

According to the preliminary report of the teams, 687 km of roads in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Pondicherry, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands had been damaged.

Some roads were still under water and the exact figure of damage might go up once the water receded. The teams would soon submit a consolidated report to the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, he said.

A separate session on tsunami-affected roads was organised here to chalk out short, medium and long-term measures to repair the damaged roads. The Indian Roads Congress had formed a team of experts that would suggest to the Union Government innovative and cost-effective solutions for restoration of roads and bridges in the shortest possible time, he said.

Mr. Kumar said that practical problems with regard to construction industry, contractors, engineers, and consultants were deliberated. Work on the National High Development Project (NHDP) I was almost complete, and work on the NHDP II was under progress. The Ministry had been preparing proposals to execute NHDP III and NHDP IV, he said.

The secretary of the Indian Roads Congress, R.S. Sharma, said that the Union Ministry for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj had asked the congress to prepare a vision document for executing rural roads. Experts of the congress would prepare the 2025 vision document and submit to the Ministry recommending measures on quality of roads, tender specifications, technical guidelines and data maintenance, he said.

The 65th session of the congress donated Rs. 5 lakhs to the Prime Minister' National Relief Fund.

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