Arunachal seeks central fund for restoration of communication

Road links within the state have been disrupted due to rains and floods

Arunachal Pradesh has sought special fund from the Centre to restore communication as road links have been disrupted following rains and floods with the Itanagar-Banderdewa via Karsingsa road, lifeline of the state capital, remaining cut off for the sixth day today.

In a memorandum to Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, state PWD Minister Gojen Gadi sought Rs 20 crore for restoring NH-52A from Banderdewa to Itanagar and Rs 20 crore for restoring damaged roads in the state's eastern sector under flood damage restoration (FDR) head for 2014-15.

Gadi in a statement today informed that he had also urged Union MoS (Home Affairs) Kiren Rijiju to apprise Gadkari of the communication problems confronting the state because of its hilly and tough terrain.

The state PWD had in June estimated that Rs 7.62 crore would be required to temporarily restore the road and Rs 12 crore for permanent restoration.

"But in the last week, a good portion of the road has been washed away, because of which the required fund for restoration has risen to Rs 20 crore," the memorandum said.

Severe rainfall and landslides have caused extensive damages to other roads in the eastern sector, specifically on the Mahadevpur-Buridhing-Jairampur-Longding- Tissa-Khonsa road passing through Lohit, Tirap and Changlang districts (NH-52B), and on the Pasighat-Pangin road in East Siang district (NH-229), the memorandum said.