“Roads in central zone, which comprises of wards 2, 3, 7, 13, 14 and 17, have sustained cumulative damage to the tune of Rs 15.20 crore,” Pani said (Representational Image)
THE TEN-DAY-LONG wet spell marked by occurrences of very heavy rainfall in between has caused damage worth Rs32.26 crore to city roads and Rajkot Municipal Corporation has sought special assistance from the state government for repair and restoration work.
At a press conference held at RMC headquarters on Monday, Rajkot mayor Jaiman Upadhyaya and Rajkot municipal commissioner Banchhanidhi Pani announced that the major roads in all the three zones of the city have sustained damage due to heavy rainfall which started on July 14. The commissioner said that surveys have pegged the damage to roads at Rs32 crore.
“Roads in central zone, which comprises of wards 2, 3, 7, 13, 14 and 17, have sustained cumulative damage to the tune of Rs 15.20 crore. Similarly, roads in wards 1, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 falling in the west zone of the city have sustained damage worth Rs 8.96 crore. East zone roads falling in wards 4, 5, 6, 15, 16 and 18 have sustained an estimated damage worth Rs 8.10 crore,” Pani said.
The commissioner said that the city had received around 25 inches of rain in last one week. Out of that, 18 inch rain was recorded in one day alone, leading to heavy waterlogging on almost all major roads in the city and forcing evacuation of people living in low laying areas along Aji river.
“In the year 2010, the city had received record 54 inch of rain. But this year, 39 inch of precipitation has already been recorded as of July 23. This heavy rainfall in the first half of the monsoon has caused widespread damage to city roads, water distribution network and drainage infrastructure,” said the commissioner adding ward-wise surveys were conducted to assess extent of damage.
The mayor said that the RMC has sought assistance from the government. “To ensure that the roads, water distribution lines and drainage network are repaired at the earliest, we have requested the state government for special financial assistance. The government has responded positively and assured us of maximum assistance,” the mayor said.
