The Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat called upon Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Saturday and requested that Union Government should provide financial help to the State for Kumbh Mela-2021 at Haridwar. The CM gave an elaborate account of the preparation made by the State for the Kumbh Mela and said that works amounting to Rs 1,000 crore would be undertaken for successful organisation of Kumbh which would start from January 2021 and culminate in April 2021. He said that in the Kumbh of 2010, about eight crore pilgrims had visited Haridwar while this time, 15 crore pilgrims are expected and many permanent and temporary facilities are being developed in Haridwar for the purpose.
Rawat requested that in view of limited resources of Uttarakhand, the Union Government should help the State. He told PM that infrastructural works, sanitation and sewage disposal activities and parking are going on in the Mela area of Kumbh. The CM also said about the progress of the Kedarnath reconstruction works on which the PM said that the work should be completed on a mission mode.
Rawat also informed the PM about his Government’s decision to make a Char Dham Devesthanam board for the management of Char Dhams and other important temples. The CM also sought a special central package for border area development scheme. He requested the PM to inaugurate the “wellness summit” being organised by the State Government in April 2020. He informed that so far, 305 wellness centres in the State have been opened and before March 2020, all 462 centres would become operational.
On “Namami Gange”, the CM claimed that sewage treatment project and other approved works would get completed before November 2020. The PM suggested that for augmenting its financial resources, the State should make special effort on GST collection.
The CM said that projects worth 19,000 crore have been brought on ground from the projects inked during the investors’ summit of 2018. He requested that the Union Government should approve the 300 MW Lakhwad hydropower project and held discussion on maintaining constant flow of river Yamuna. The CM informed PM Modi that the State got a good ranking on the governance index released by the Niti Aayog.
In the sectors of commerce and industry, Uttarakhand got first rank among Himalayan States. In human resource development, the State got second rank among Himalayan States and sixth rank in the country. Rawat also apprised PM of the progress of the “All weather road” and Rishikesh- Karnprayag rail link projects.