Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has asked industrialists to assist and support the reconstruction and rehabilitation of disaster-affected areas of the State. He urged them to set up industries in areas other than Dehradun, Haridwar and Udhamsinghnagar.
He expressed hope that industrialists would assist the State Government in rebuilding of disaster-affected States. He made these statements while addressing in a seminar, which was organised by the PHD Chambers of Commerce & Industry on ‘Rebuilding Infrastructure in Uttarakhand - Opportunities & Challenges’ in Dehradun on Friday.
“We shall identify new tourist destinations in the State. Fifty helidromes will be made for better connectivity. Efforts will be made to revive tourism in the State just like it was before the disaster. Separate routes for entry and exit will be made for all the five dhaams. The new Kedarnath and its route will be constructed scientifically. Planning is being done to build several pockets of activity instead of single areas. I expect industrialists to give their suggestions on better rehabilitation.” Chief Minister added.
“All the programmes to be designed for rehabilitation and reconstruction of infrastructure will be implemented after taking suggestions from the scientists and other experts. Our objective is to develop the State on a sustainable basis. Suggestions will also be taken from GSI and ASI in this regard. Work will be done keeping a balance between environment and economic development. A high-level committee has also been set up for approval of rehabilitation work,” he added.
Uttarakhand also had to face challenges being created due to global warming. It is a matter of serious concern for the entire Himalayan region. The State has taken an initiative in this direction. Along with the CMs of Himalayan States, representatives from Himalayan countries will also participate in a meet to be organised to address the issue. TERI’s Dr RK Pachauri and HESCO would also participate in this.
Development programmes in a large numbers of villages had been hit, along with houses, drinking water projects, which had suffered great losses due to the disaster. Now, comprehensive work and not patch work repair would be taken up. This would definitely take time but work would be speeded up with assistance from experts and scientists. There was also need to build tunnels in slide zones areas.
Most of the roads were along flowing rivers. Since gravel and sand were deposited in the rivers, they were causing damage to roads. The Chief Minister assured the gathering that the State was working at a rapid pace on providing relief despite limitation of human resources.
PHD Chambers of Commerce & Industry chairman Ashish Mohan Wig promised that all possible help would be extended to the State.