While presiding over a meeting to evaluate the ongoing rehabilitation and restoration efforts in Rohru last evening, Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu issued directions to the officers to prepare a comprehensive strategy for opening of all the roads in the Rohru assembly segment by 15th August, 2023.
He analyzed the reports of the damages caused to Public Works, Jal Shakti, Electricity, Horticulture and Agriculture departments, besides losses to private property etc.The Chief Minster announced an immediate allocation of rupees one crore to the Public Works Department, to expedite the road restoration efforts within the Rohru assembly constituency.
Recognizing the significance of both main and link roads, particularly those connecting villages, the Chief Minister directed to release an additional amount of Rs. 1.20 crore to restore damaged roads in the development blocks of Rohru, Chauhara, Jubbal, and Kotkhai.
During the meeting, the Chief Minister also emphasized upon the unimpeded transportation of apple produce to the markets directing the officers to work around the clock, to facilitate the farmers and horticulturalists for transporting their produce.
The Chief Minister also stressed for constructing temporary roads, wherever required adding that all the link roads should be made fully operational by 15th August and sought a comprehensive report from the Public Works Department and the Deputy Commissioner about the progress so far.
He assured that there won't be any financial constraint for restoring normalcy in the disaster affected regions though the unprecedented rainfall causing flash floods and landslips had led to substantial property damage amounting to over Rs 8,000 crore.
Sh. Sukhu said that initially, a loss of approximately Rs 340 crore have been evaluated due to heavy rains in the Rohru assembly constituency. The Public Works Department has incurred losses amounting to Rs 155 crore, the Revenue Department Rs. 84 crore, the Jal Shakti Department Rs. 69 crore, the Horticulture Department Rs. 23 crore, besides loss of around rupees nine crore to other departments.
It was reported in the meeting that 34 houses have been completely destroyed, while 819 houses partially damaged within the Rohru assembly constituency. Apart from this, the calamity has led to the damage of 137 cow shelters and around 21,000 apple plants.
As a measure of relief, a sum of Rs 1.09 crore has been released to support the 120 households affected by complete or partial damage.Education Minister Rohit Thakur, Public Works Minister, Vikramaditya Singh, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Mohan Lal Brakta were also present in the meeting.