Rains inflict road damage worth Rs 596 cr in Nagpur Division !

Staff Reporter
The excessive rainfall in Nagpur Division has inflicted heavy damage to roads and bridges in six districts. As per the estimates of Public Works Department (PWD), the damage is worth a whopping Rs 596 crore! Besides, loss to Government properties has been assessed to be worth Rs 5.60 crore.
According to PWD officials, the rains this year have been ‘extra-ordinary’. The rainfall paralysed life in urban and rural areas in six districts of Nagpur Division namely Nagpur, Wardha, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, Bhandara, and Gondia. In the division, PWD maintains road length of 12,590 kms. This year, excessive rainfall was received on June 26, July 19, and July 27 apart from other spells of excessive rainfall in various parts of the division.

Published in The Hitavada CityLine on August 7, 2013

PWD assessed the damage caused to roads, bridges, and Government properties till July 27. The rains damaged road length of 3,309 kms and 122 bridges. According to PWD report, repair work will have to be done in two categories -- immediate and permanent -- to set priorities. The repairs of immediate nature comprise providing rain cuts on sides of carriageway of road pavements to drain out water accumulated in potholes, filling and repair of potholes, dressing undulations and restoring and levelling road surface etc. For the purpose, an amount of Rs 76 crore is required.
Permanent repairs include strengthening restored surface by layer of water-bound-macadam (WBM) and black-topping and major damages to bridges. This is the component that requires the highest amount of Rs 467 crore. Apart from roads and bridges, 20 Government properties have been damaged by rains. These properties need urgent attention to ensure that day-to-day working of Government departments is not hampered. The immediate and long-term repairs of Government properties require Rs 5.60 crore, as per PWD estimates. These 20 properties are in Nagpur, Chandrapur, and Bhandara districts.
PWD has taken up repairs of immediate nature in respect of roads and Government buildings ‘in anticipation of funds’. PWD top brass of Nagpur Region has sought funds from the Government for immediate repairs in first instalment, and those for permanent repairs in the second instalment.

Road damage to the tune of Rs 97.37 cr in city
The damage caused to roads by the excessive rainfall has been quantified to be worth Rs 97.37 crore. Standing Committee of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has already stated that this much amount would be required to repair the damaged roads. All the roads are likely to be repaired by Diwali. In fact, in some areas, filling up of potholes and repair work has began as part of regular work. The zone-wise amount required to remove potholes and repair roads is as follows; Laxmi Nagar-- Rs 11.92 lakh (potholes) and Rs 4.06 crore (roads); Dharampeth-- Rs 92 lakh and Rs 30.69 crore; Hanuman Nagar-- Rs 1.87 crore and Rs 3.93 crore; Dhantoli-- Rs 43.25 lakh and Rs 11.84 crore; Nehru Nagar-- Rs 25.68 lakh and Rs 7.82 crore; Gandhibag-- Rs 27.50 lakh and Rs 6.81 crore; Satranjipura-- Rs 6.54 lakh and Rs 3.77 crore; Lakadganj-- Rs 1.04 crore and Rs 7.26 crore; Ashi Nagar-- Rs 2.40 crore and Rs 3.04 crore; Mangalwari-- Rs 2.23 crore and Rs 8.54 crore.

Damage to roads, bridges in Nagpur Division

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District                           Road                                                   Bridges

                        Damaged        Requirement             Damaged                Requirement 

                        (Length)                                             (Number)

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Nagpur         405.650 kms      Rs 99.044 cr               24                          Rs 2.650 cr

Wardha        793.100 kms      Rs 132.140 cr             38                           Rs 32.910 cr

Bhandara     298.600 kms      Rs 34.879 cr               16                           Rs 4.00 cr

Gondia         232.700 kms      Rs 33.825 cr                32                           Rs 1.760 cr

Chandrapur 679.00 kms        Rs 52.280 cr                12                            Rs 13.060 cr

Gadchiroli   900.00 kms         Rs 114.509 cr              --                                --

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Total         3,309.050 kms       Rs 466.677 cr             122                          Rs 54.380 cr

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(This does not include damage caused to Government properties)