BENGALURU: While there has been significant damage to roads and civic infrastructure across the state following the recent heavy rain and floods, the Public Works Department is working on a plan to repair and restore these stretches.
Department sources said that around 7,000 km of roads have been damaged, of which 4,850 km are district roads and 2,236 km are state highways. Over 1,500 bridges and culverts too have been damaged that need repairs.
The damage is estimated at around Rs 3,500 crore and an estimated Rs 730 crore is needed for repairs, they said. Rs 310 crore has been allotted to four zones and 766 projects are under progress. Rs 230 crore was allocated to the North Zone, Rs 38 crore to the Central Zone and Rs 15 crore to the Northeast zone.
Apart from this, additional funds of Rs 45 crore has been allocated to South Zone, Rs 70 crore to North Zone, Rs 81 crore to Central Zone and Rs 55 crore to Northeast Zone.PWD Minister CC Patil said, "We would like to complete all pending works by March-end.’"
Department sources said, "To maintain uniformity, we are planning to introduce standard rates among different engineering departments. A technical working group has been constituted to study the schedule of rates of various departments.’"
Footbridges have been damaged especially in rural parts of coastal regions and the construction of wooden bridges will ensure safety of local communities, for which Rs 200 crore allocated in the previous budget will be utilised, the sources said.
The department has submitted a proposal to the Union government to declare the following roads as National Highways – Nargund-Belawanki-Sindhanur Road of 141 km, Sankeshwar-Gokak-Nargund highway of 127 km, Gadag-Mundargi-Jagalur road of 260 km and Tadas-Navalgund-Hebsur stretch of 118 km.