Work being undertaken under the infrastructure development and investment programme for tourism should be monitored regularly while also checking the level of work quality. The Uttarakhand Chief secretary Shatrughna Singh gave this direction to officials while presiding over a meeting of the Infrastructure Development and Investment Programme for Tourism (IDIPFT) State-level committee held at the Secretariat on Tuesday.
Officials informed in the meeting that tourism related basic facilities are being developed in three stages with the assistance of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
They informed that various tourist circuits had been developed with works being executed for tourism development at the Asan barrage at a cost of about Rs 3 crore, lakhamandal temple and Tiger Fall at a cost of Rs 1.82 crore, Hanol Mahasu and Ped Samadhi at a cost of Rs 8.76 crore, various adventure tourism sites at a combined cost of about Rs 14 crore and development of Yamuna circuit at a cost of about Rs 27 lakh.
Additionally, various other works are being currently undertaken including development of area near the northern boundary of the Corbett landscape at a cost of about Rs 11.48 crore with Rs 47.80 crore for signage, Rs 16 crore for adventure sports in Tehri, Rs 4.62 crore on tourism information centre, Rs 13.51 crore on developing Naukuchiatal, Rs 89 lakh on developing the trekking trail from Pithoragarh to Chandak, Rs 99 lakh on Mostamanu Mandir, conservation of the Pithoragarh fort costing Rs 4.55 crore and development of Baur reservoir as a centre for adventure sports at a cost of Rs 6.13 crore.
In the second stage of the the programme, an estimated Rs 7.60 crore will be spent on the unique Kartik Swami temple, Rs 3.97 crore on Durgadhar-Tungeshwar circuit, development of village tourism in Rudraprayag, Chamoli and Uttarkhashi costing Rs 15.26 crore apart from Rs 24.29 crore on bridle path from Haridwar, Rs 11.65 crore for tourism infrastructure development at Semukhem costing Rs 11.65 crore, conservation of cultural heritage in Nainital at a cost of Rs 38 crore, preservation of the Almora fort (Rani Mahal) at a cost of Rs 30 crore and preservation of the fort in Champawat (Vanasur) costing Rs 16 crore.
In addition to this, the committee also granted its approval to various proposals for village tourism in Pauri and Tehri districts, developing Kanwashram lake costing Rs 23 crore, traditional medicine and Yoga training centre costing about Rs four crore among other proposals. Principal secretary Umakant Panwar, housing secretary R Meenakshi Sundaram and tourism secretary Shailesh Bagauli among other officials were present in the meeting.