Poor connectivity of roads in the Garhwal division of Uttarakhand has been hampering the State Government efforts for providing relief especially in the remote areas of the State.
Apart from the link roads that lead to the remotely situated villages, the National Highway 58, an important artery connecting the region was also washed away near Jyotirmath and in many other places. However, department officials claimed that the every possible step would be taken by the department for repairing the roads in order to resume the flow of traffic on National Highway.
After remained closed for more than fortnight as small stretches of roads were washed away after experiencing heavy rainfall in the mountainous region, the Govindghat route has been declared open for the vehicular flow of traffic in the Garhwal division of the State on Friday.
The condition of roads was so poor in the higher parts that it took nearly five days to open Uttarkashi-Tehri route for vehicular traffic. The pilgrims who are stranded at Uttarkashi opted for alternate route via Dhatoori-lambgaon-Peepaldali-Tehri after the department opened the route after the four days. Sources confirmed that the Karanprayag-Gwaldham route is also opened for the vehicular flow of traffic besides, 180 villages near Tharali are disconnected in the absence of roads.
Additionally, the connecting route between Pauri-Karanprayag was also opened after five days via Paithani-Karanprayag. Well established sources revealed that the 48 link routes in Uttarkashi district, 58 in Chamoli, 32in Rudraprayag, 80 in Tehri, 36 in Dehradun, 36 in Pauri, 45 in Pithoragarh, 15 in Bageshwar, two in Almora, nine in Champawat and one link route in Nainital is still closed for the vehicular flow of traffic in the disaster-hit areas of Uttarakhand.
In the absence of proper roads that lead to all four shrines — Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri — are hampering the State Government efforts for providing immediate relief to patients despite the fact that the State Government is air-dropping the relief materials to the disaster-hit areas of the State. The situation is similar in Pilang, Jaurav, Syaba, lonthru, Bayana, Salu, Salang, Bhukki, Sarnaul, Chaptari, Bakrali and dozens of more villages in Uttarkashi district where relief is yet to reach the affected people due to the poor connectivity of roads.
One of the department sources from PWD, who wished anonymity told The Pioneer that stern instructions were already released to junior and assistant engineers to repair roads on war footing. He said that the department is also trying to construct the alternate route for resuming the flow of traffic on national highway.