More than 12,000 kilometres of roads, including the crucial Jammu-Srinagar highway, have suffered damage in Jammu and Kashmir following recent flash floods triggered by cloudbursts and heavy rainfall, officials said on Tuesday.
The administration is working to restore critical roads and highways across multiple districts to ensure connectivity and smooth flow of traffic.
Principal Secretary, Public Works Department (PWD), Anil Kumar Singh, said, “Out of the total road length of 42,000 km, around 12,000 km suffered damage due to recent flash floods.”
Officials of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) revealed that the Jammu-Srinagar national highway had suffered major damage on the Udhampur-Ramban stretch, which will be restored soon, while on the Dhar-Udhampur stretch, traffic will move one way beginning today.
They said out of the total 105 bridges on the highway, three were damaged but have now been restored.
Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary directed officials and departments concerned to coordinate with each other for the immediate restoration of damaged infrastructure on highways.
Meanwhile, a Border Roads Organisation official said roads and highways on Rajouri-Thannamandi Road, Surankote Road, Reasi-Arnas-Mahore, Rajouri-Kandi-Budhal, Pouni-Sair-Rajouri, Beeri-Pethan and Jhulas, and Akhnoor-Poonch routes have been restored. Work on a few other roads has been blocked for a week.
The Deputy CM also directed officials to conduct a safety audit of bridges, roads, and tunnels that may have suffered damage in the recent floods. He also said all restoration work must be completed within a specific timeframe and warned that strict action, including blacklisting, would be taken against negligent executing agencies or contractors.
ALso Read: Landslide in Kullu: 7 from Kashmir feared dead
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