The work of constructing and maintaining roads on the Char Dham Yatra circuit will be executed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO). The final clearance has been received for the lakhwad power project.
State chief secretary Subhash Kumar and additional chief secretary Rakesh Sharma met the union Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth and principal secretary, PM, Pulok Chatterji in New Delhi on Wednesday. It may be recalled that Chief Minister, Vijay Bahuguna, had called on the Prime Minister and requested him to release Rs 300 crore for BRO’S road construction work. The Prime Minister held a meeting with the Cabinet Secretary and gave him directions to look for a solution.
As a result, Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth held a meeting with the Uttarakhand CS, Additional CS and DG, BRO, lt Gen AT Parnaik and officials of the Surface Transport and Highways officials. It was argued by the State Government that it could not undertake construction work on these roads owing to its limited resources. The PWD did not have the required means. Thus, an appeal was made that the work on repair and reconstruction of Char Dham roads be undertaken by the BRO and the committee agreed to the same in light of the special circumstances.
The final decision will be taken on February 3 at a meeting to be held in New Delhi. Besides this, the Chief Secretary also met Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Pulok Chatterji and the Forest and Environment Ministry DG, SS Gabriyal, regarding the lakhwad project. Final approval for the project has been granted by the ministry and sent to Minister Veerappa Moily. The Chief Minister will ask the Union Minister, telephonically, to soon give approval to the file.