Thursday, 07 March 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Taking a serious note on the issue of safety of bridges in the State, the chief secretary Radha Raturi has directed the public works department (PWD), forest and irrigation departments to prepare clear Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and guidelines for the bridges.
The CS chaired a review meeting of the PWD, forest, mining and irrigation departments regarding safety of bridges at her office on Wednesday. In the meeting the CS gave strict instructions to follow the safety standards in the construction and maintenance of bridges and said that the constant monitoring of the construction works should be done. Raturi said that the district magistrates and the departments concerned should continuously supervise the construction and maintenance works of the bridges. She directed that CCTV cameras should be installed to prevent mining in the restricted areas. Raturi said that the helpline mechanism should be strengthened so that the public can complain about mining activities in restricted areas. Public awareness should be increased in this regard, she opined. She directed the irrigation department to provide river training in upstream and downstream areas of the rivers for the safety of the bridges. The CS said that the hydraulic analysis on the basis of the hydrological parameters should be done for flood protection works. She exhorted all the departments to work in an integrated manner on the issue of bridge safety.
In the meeting the officers of PWD informed that due to excessive rains/floods last year, 97 bridges under the department had become unsafe. Following the corrective measures 18 of these bridges are now out of the unsafe category and repair work is in progress in 49 bridges.
Secretary Pankaj Kumar Pandey, Additional Secretary Vineet Kumar and officials of forest, mining and irrigation department were present in the meeting.
