Former chief minister and senior Congress leader Harish Rawat has reiterated that executing the plan to build elevated roads on the Rispana and Bindal rivers will mean ending the existence of these two rivers. Stating that he is not against elevated roads, the veteran politician said that if elevated roads are built on some of Dehradun city’s main roads, the congestion on major intersections can be lessened. Other solutions can also be worked upon, he said, while also expressing concern at encroachments on ravines in the valley.
Taking to the social media, the former chief minister said, “The ravines which form at the foothills of Mussoorie and continue into Dehradun, and carry water- most of them have been destroyed by illegal constructions. If even the Bindal and Rispana rivers are closed, if there is ever heavy rainfall in Dehradun or a cloudburst in the foothills of Mussoorie, we will fall prey to a major disaster. This is why the government should consider the proposal for building metro in the city instead of the elevated road. The government should also strongly take forward the concept of riverfront development. This will also facilitate some roads along with some land plots where the residents of the slum settlements can be systematically rehabilitated. This will provide the solution to a major problem in Dehradun. If you have money, use it in the right direction,” said the former chief minister.
It will be recalled that earlier this week, the report of a feasibility survey undertaken to ascertain the scope for building elevated roads on stretches of the Rispana and Bindal rivers in the provisional state capital was presented before the chief secretary Sukhbir Singh Sandhu. The feasibility survey was conducted for construction of an elevated road on the Rispana river from the Rispana bridge near the VidhanSabha to Sahastradhara and on the Bindal river from the Haridwar bypass to near the Max hospital on Mussoorie Road. During the presentation of the survey report, the chief secretary had directed the officials to ascertain the possibility of building six-lane elevated roads on stretches of both the rivers. Among the various projected benefits, these planned elevated roads are expected to drastically reduce traffic congestion caused on city roads especially by movement of tourist vehicles.
Meanwhile, observers opine that despite various plans and measures, the authorities have not been able to tackle encroachment on the rivers and the severe contamination of the two rivers which appear to be struggling to survive. Environmental activists also point out that a 2014 report of the National Institute of Hydrology (NIH) had confirmed that Rispana and Bindal rivers are in fact perennial and later merge with Ganga river also.
