Public Works Minister Gulab Singh today said the loss to major roads and highways was estimated at Rs 280 crore.
Reviewing damage caused to roads in the state at a meeting of senior officers, he said due to prolonged rainy season and continuous rains this year, the maintenance and restoration of roads had suffered and extensive damage had been caused to roads, bridges, culverts and road crusts.
He said the department had procured bitumen worth Rs 51.94 crore for proper tarring and patchwork of the roads and 66,727 bitumen drums were available with the department for completion of tarring work.
He said the bitumen has been distributed to all the Public Works Divisions and directions have been issued that concrete roads must be constructed in water-logged and slushy portions so that commuters do not face inconvenience.
He said construction and maintenance of roads was the top priority of the state government, and added 3,730 km roads have been constructed during past four years.
Drainage works have been completed on 6,260 km roads, while renewal of existing surfaces had been done on 7,170 km road length and 3,536 km roads have been tarred during this period, he said.