Incessant rain and natural disasters have caused damages amounting to ₹210.73 crore this year to the Public Works Department’s roads, Minister for Public Works P.A. Mohamad Riyas told the Assembly on Wednesday.
Out of this, a large part of the damage was sustained during the heavy rain experienced across the State in October, with ₹158.5 crore in road damages happening during this period. In addition, the roads coming under the National Highways Authority of India sustained damages amounting to ₹14.60 crore this year.
Mr. Riyas said the damaged roads in disaster-prone areas were being rebuilt with various technologies which would ensure that they could survive such disasters in the future. Road construction with white-topping technology, which involves covering of an existing asphalt road with a layer of Portland cement concrete, could give roads a life of 15 to 20 years. In areas prone to landslips, gabion walls, geotextiles, and turfing were being carried out to strengthen the slopes.
A road maintenance and management system was being prepared under the Rebuild Kerala Initiative for the construction of roads which could withstand damages due to rain and natural disasters. The focus would be on constructing roads based on the peculiarities of the specific area. The PWD would work with the Kerala State Disaster Management Cell for this purpose. A climate cell would be formed at the Kerala Highway Research Institute.
