The Minister for Public Works, Naeem Akhtar, today chaired a meeting to take stock of the damages to the roads and bridges in Kashmir after recent heavy rainfall.Chief Engineer R&B, Sheikh Hamid, Chief Engineer PMGSY, Malik Basharat Ahmad, all Executive Engineers and other concerned officers attended the meeting.The CE R&B appraised the Minister about the damages to R&B infrastructure from the heavy rains and winds, giving out that 25 roads, 3 bridges and 4 diversions in Anantnag, 12 roads, 7 bridges & 3 diversions in Kulgam, 43 roads & 2 bridges in Pulwama, 17 roads & 2 diversions in Shopian, 17 roads and 1 bailey bridge in Srinagar, 86 roads in Budgam, 10 roads in Ganderbal, 70 roads & 2 bridges in Baramulla, 42 roads in Kupwara, and 7 roads in Bandipora suffered damages of varying degrees.He said the Department had deployed its men and machinery across the Valley for restoration of damaged roads, bridges, culverts and diversions.
Seeking details about the damages to the PMGSY infrastructure, the Minister informed that while a total 26 such roads suffered damaged about a half of them have been restored so far whereas the remaining will be repaired within the next three days.The Minister directed the Chief Engineers to speed up the pace of restoration works and put additional men and machinery on the job to complete the restoration of damaged roads, bridges, culverts and diversions within the shortest possible time.He asked the officers to reach out to the people and sort out all grievances on priority basis, impressing upon them to be at the beck and call of the public.On the occasion, the Minister was informed that the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has recently released Rs 1,016 crore to enable the Department to take up new projects and upgrade existing ones over the next three years.The Minister called for making judicious use of funds while stressing on employing latest technologies in and designing and building public infrastructure.