By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
A resort in Dehradun’s Maldevta area where heavy floods wreaked havoc is in the eye of the storm after a preliminary inquiry found that the enormous damage to roads and bridges were caused by diverting the flow of a river by illegally constructing a retaining wall.
The owner constructed an illegal concrete wall to divert the flow of the river’s natural path and later constructed the resort few years ago, top government officials said. When the flash floods struck early Tuesday, the swollen river damaged nearly 150-meter road resulting in the loss of government property worth Rs 6 crore, the officials said.
Dehradun District Magistrate Savin Bansal has now recommended a high level inquiry after visiting the affected areas in Maldevta.
Diverting the flow of rivers, illegal constructions in the floodplains and felling trees remained the prime reasons behind the recent disasters in Uttarakhand with experts saying they were mostly man-made.
“The Dehradun district administration will take strict action against the owner of the resort that illegally constructed a large wall by diverting the river in Kisanpuri Bandawali, Maldevta,” the official said.
After safely evacuating people stranded in the disaster-affected areas of Dehradun, the district administration is now working to restore roads, electricity, water, and other essential services in the disaster-affected areas.
Bansal and Chief Development Officer Abhinav Shah inspected the damaged roads and motor bridges in Maldevta, Dwara Pul, Khairi Dhanaula, Kisanpur Bandawali, and near Kothalgate on Mussoorie Road. He directed the Public Works Department to repair the damaged roads and approaches to the bridges and restore traffic flow as soon as possible.
Inspecting the washout motor road at Maldevta Kesharwala, Bansal directed the road to be reopened by installing wire-crate bridges, and to repair the washout portion of the road by channeling the river.
Nearly 27 people were killed and 10 remained missing in the unprecedented flash floods in Sahastradhara, Maldevta and some other areas in Dehradun. Just like Maldevta, Sahastradhara also bore the brunt with flash floods causing heavy damage to scores of resorts, hotels and houses.