Unless more scientific means were employed in clearance of snow from the roads, abrasion and damages caused to them cannot wholly be prevented. There may be snow clearance machines pressed into services at those very few roads classified as very important and some damage during and post clearance minimised though not prevented but what about other numerous roads where conventional tools like spades, shovels, mattocks, snow cutters etc are still used? So far, to call a spade a spade, no successive Government appears to have paid any heed to find alternatives and to save crores of Rupees while to some, it offered ”golden opportunities” as considerable ”work” in the shape of repairing and rebuilding roads got generated . Usually, when it snows and skies are clear during the night, such snow on roads gets frozen which needs to be virtually ”broken” in order to clear the roads. That verily considerably damages the macadamized layer of the road and within days, ditches etc get formed due to the accumulated water. Post snow clearance, roads have virtually to be reconstructed and not merely repaired in patch work manner involving considerable amount of funds. It is a step in right direction recently taken by the UT Government, first to recognise and realise the damage caused to roads in the absence of SOP / scientific options and subsequent cost factor involved hence formation of a committee of bureaucrats and experts to explore scientific solutions which may undoubtedly mean making initial investments but in the longer run, will prove quite economical and beneficial for roads’ uninterrupted utility during and after snowfall.
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