Pyongyang, November 27 (KCNA) -- Soldiers of the Korean People's Army, together with the members of the shock brigades who turned out in the drive to recover from the flood damage changed the appearance of the flood-stricken Komdok area beyond imagination in a little over two months.
In August last, the Komdok area suffered from huge damage owing to typhoon-15. Recovery only was said to take many years.

Soldiers of the Korean People's Army rushed to the afflicted areas and officials and workers from different parts of the country including South Hamgyong Province and the Tanchon Area General Mining Bureau turned out as one in the campaign to turn the misfortune into blessings.

Soldiers have built houses for more than 1,000 families earlier than scheduled.

In a little more than a month since the army and the people started foundation project, the construction of walls, inside and outside plastering and roofing for a thousand and several hundreds of houses were finished. At the end of October, more than 700 dwelling houses were completed in the main in the Taehung Youth Hero Mine area and dwelling houses for hundreds of families in the Komdok Mining Complex and Ryongyang Mining area. Then there started final stage project and the arrangement of areas.

Public buildings including hundreds of production buildings, schools, hospitals, nurseries and kindergartens were newly built or rehabilitated.

The soldiers cleared millions of cubic meters of earth and rubble stones and built retaining walls, thus opening to traffic roads that were originally washed away or buried. This helped ensure the provision of raw materials needed for the project.

They widened roads, reduced their inclination and straightened curves, chopped off the brink of cliff and pushed forward the project of building bridges and improving rivers and streams.

Kilju County, North Hamgyong Province laid more than 10,000 cubic meters of earth on the ground and removed over 60,000 cubic meters of earth and rebuilt various bridges in just three days. This enabled vehicles to pass through the roads.

Roads extending scores of kilometers were built or recovered thanks to the ardent patriotism of the soldiers and the people.

Members of the Ministry of Railways and its affiliated bureaus completed in just over ten days the project that would otherwise have taken them over one month and ensured the passage of the first train through the Tanchon-Paekgumsan railway tracks on Sept. 20.

They have channeled efforts into the structural projects including fortifying roadbeds, replacing rails and sleepers, building revetment, rebuilding railway bridges and thus rebuilt railway lines including Paekgumsan-Kumgol and Kumgol-Taesin one after another.

The Komdok Mining Complex cleared over 20,000 cubic meters of debris and mud piled up in the compound of Kumgol Railway Station and recovered the first-stage pumping station of the third dressing plant and pumping stations of the second dressing plant in just a few days.

Several hundred pieces of equipment were repaired and pits were rebuilt.

The Ryongyang Mine finished repair and maintenance of excavators, electric cars and mine cars that were severely destroyed by landslide. The mine also repaired electric car lines and fired up light burning kilns.

The Taehung Youth Hero Mine overhauled many pieces of equipment including electric motors, winches and speed reducers. It cleared muck and mud from production buildings and drainage canals earlier than planned.

Thanks to the hard working and collective spirit of people in the Komdok area, overall units recovered production processes in the main in a short period.

More than 2,000 dwelling houses and hundreds of public buildings were built to the people's pleasure. Transportation was put into normal service after the reconstruction of roads, railroads and bridges that were destroyed or cut off.

The Komdok Mining Complex, the Taehung Youth Hero Mine and the Ryongyang Mine have entered into the normal production.

Builders including the Tanchon Area General Mining Bureau set higher goal and are hastening the projects for river dredging, concrete tamping of retaining walls, repair of buildings and the improvement of railway lines.