Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat attended the 21st meeting of the Central Zonal Council presided over by the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh at Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh on Monday. Rawat requested speeding up of particular road widening works and connecting Hindon airbase to Pithoragarh via regular air service. He also spoke of the need to make amendments in the Bhagirathi eco sensitive zone notification.

A total of 22 issues were discussed in the meeting with 17 of them being resolved and directions being issued in three issues. The remaining two issues will be taken up in the next meeting of the council. Roads, Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana, means to tackle left wing extremism, modernisation of police force, MNREGA, infrastructure of airports, food grain storage, minimum support price, national health mission, school police caded and other issues related to schools were the major issues taken up in the meeting.

The Union Home Minister said that the by increasing cooperation between the Centre and States, the zonal councils have an important role to play in resolving important issues related to the public.

He said that all the zonal councils had been made active during the past four years. Speaking at the meeting, the Uttarakhand Chief Minister requested swift completion of the widening of Muzaffarnagar-Haridwar and Haridwar-Dehradun national highway. An air service should be started from Hindon airbase to Pithoragarh.

A regular commercial air service between Dehradun and Pantnagar should also be started. Regardin the Bhagirathi eco sensitive zone, he said that there is a need for making amendments in the notification. He also requested that funds be provided for modernisation of Uttarakhand’s police force and facilitation of housing for police.

For compensatory afforestation, the State Government and corporations should also be accorded persmission for such afforestation on degraded land as is granted to Government of India enterprises. Uttarakhand’s chief secretary Utpal Kumar Singh and other senior officers were also present in the meeting.

Earlier, the CM met his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanath at his residence. Rawat informed him about the notice issued to family members of Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali by UP forest department.

Adityanath assured Rawat of necessary action to provide relief to Garhwali’s family members. He also informed Rawat that budgetary provision had been made for pension dues of employees allotted from UP to Uttarakhand.