The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a funding of Rs 1,294 crore for various development projects in Tehri district. The projects will be funded in a ratio of 80:20 with ADB bearing 80 per cent of the expenditure and the Uttarakhand government bearing 20 per cent of the expenses. Tourism secretary and Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB) CEO Sachin Kurve informed that that in order to promote sustainable, inclusive and climate resilient tourism development of designated areas in Tehri, the state government decided to develop the Tehri dam reservoir and surrounding areas as a special tourist area after which the Tehri Special Area Development Authority (TADA) was established under the Tehri Special Area Development Act 2013. This was followed by a series of consultations with the Department of Economic Affairs, Government of India and proposals to ADB, which has now fructified with a project management unit being set up under the UTDB to oversee the implementation of the entire project.
Seven projects have been identified to be accomplished on priority basis which include a 15.7 kilometre tourism road from Koti Colony to Dobra Chanthi bridge which will have dedicated cycling track, view points and dedicated hawker area, a 450 metre glass bottom pedestrian suspension bridge from Koti Colony to Tiwar village, a cultural haat and Uttarakhand architecture theme park at Dobra-Chanthi, upgradation of village infrastructure at Tiwar village and new ropeway project at Tipri-Madan Negi.
Kurve further said that various infrastructure development activities are expected to be carried out in the region under the project spread over a period of six years, which are expected to give a boost to tourism business activity. According to him, the project is aimed at development of tourism infrastructure with focus also on enhancement of green cover, livelihood generation, solid and liquid waste management and minimal disruption to the natural and socio-cultural environment. A total of 56 positions have been sanctioned for the project including engineers, architects, environment experts, gender experts and community experts who will ensure that the developmental activities are in line with internationally accepted environmental and socio-cultural standards.
The overall project will also include smart infrastructure improvement with interventions like weather monitoring system, environmental data collection and establishment of an integrated command control centre. Stakeholder consultations will also be held with citizens of the area, hotel and homestay operators and other sections of the society to ensure that the developmental goals are met in accordance with local participation.
