DEHRADUN: During the four months of monsoons this year, around 430 instances of shutdowns of national highways ( NH ) in the state have been reported. According to data made available by the Public Works Department (PWD), the worst-affected road stretches this year were in Barkot, Lambagad, Rudraprayag, Srinagar, Uttarkashi, Pithoragarh and Bageshwar.The shutdowns were mostly caused by landslides, boulders falling, collapse of retention walls and sometime all of these. “At some places, the boulders have fallen from over 350 m above the roads. We are researching all factors before planning the treatment of the affected stretch,” said a senior PWD official monitoring the national highways in Uttarakhand.The NH-58 (Chamoli-Kund stretch) was the worst affected this year as it suffered 125 shutdowns in different section in the total 76-km stretch.The other highways which recorded the highest number of shutdowns include NH-94 (Sirobhgarh- Rudraprayag section) which is 18-km-long but witnessed 67 shutdowns during the monsoon season (June to August).Similarly, NH-107A (Chamoli region) reported 65 shutdowns at different places. The highway connecting Tyuni-Chakrata-Chamba-Tehri, 233 km, had recorded 150 shutdowns since June.PWD superintending engineer (NH) Hari Om Sharma said, “For monsoon-related works, state disaster management department has earmarked Rs 20 crore this year. The damages are huge and the rebuilding work will take some time. The repair works will be started by the end of this month and will take around three months to be completed.”Environment expert Anil Joshi was not surprised at the huge number of shutdowns and pointed to the excessive road constructions as the key reason behind the landslides. “There is a direct correlation between the fragility of mountains and carrying capacity of the road constructions on the slopes which must not be overlooked. The use of extensive green technology is necessary for building hill roads like in foreign countries,” Joshi said.

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