Samples of damaged road material taken

Our Correspondent

Nurpur, June 12

Following public complaints, a team of officials of the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VCB), Dharamsala, led by inspector Yash Pal Gautam, on Friday took samples of tarred road surface of the Chalwara-Samker and Sidhpur Ghar-Jaloon link roads in Jawali subdivision, which were eroded within a few months of being tarred.

The Vigilance team took these samples in the presence of Inder Singh, up pradhan of Chalwara gram panchayat, and Jeevan Lal, former pradhan of Sidhpur-Ghar panchayat. It also made a video and took photographs of the eroded road stretches, besides collecting samples from three different spots from the stretches. The team was accompanied by a material expert from the Public Works Department (PWD).

As per information, the tarring work had been carried out on 1 km stretch each on the Chalwara-Samker and Sidhpur Ghar-Jaloon link roads, spending Rs 7.50 lakh and Rs 8 lakh on them in laying tarred surfaces in November last year. The tarred road surfaces of these stretches allegedly started eroding within a few months.

In this connection, Raman Sharma, Additional Superintendent Police, Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau, Dharamsala, told The Tribune today that following directions of the state headquarters of the bureau, a special team had been formed. “The samples of the eroded road surfaces have been collected and being forwarded to the forensic laboratory for examination. Its report will be sent to the state headquarters of the bureau for further action,” he said.