The State’s Tourism and Culture minister Satpal Maharaj met the Union minister of Tourism, Prahlad Patel on Thursday and urged him to release funds for the ongoing tourism projects in Uttarakhand. Maharaj also presented a model of Char Dham to the union minister and thanked him for his continued support and guidance for re-starting the Char Dham Yatra in the state.
Maharaj also requested the minister to sanction funds for the Swadesh Darshan and Prasad schemes. He informed Patel that 98 per cent construction work of eco and adventure destination in Tehri has already been completed under Swadesh Darshan scheme and the remaining work of construction of Tehri parking will be completed by September 2020.
Similarly, the work of Kumaon heritage circuit has been completed. Maharaj also informed that the development of infrastructure facilities on Kedarnath road under the Prasad Yojana is going on at expected pace and will be completed by October 2020.
He further requested Patel to provide in principle approval for the Mahabharata circuit concept note. He said that due to excessive rainfall and snowfall progress in execution of the plan approved plan for Badrinath was limited in the past but currently the construction work is under progress with attempts being made to complete the work within the stipulated time. Under the Prasad scheme, in-principle consent has been provided for the development of tourism facilities in Gangotri and Yamunotri. He also requested early approval to the proposal for centralisation of State Institute of Hotel Management (SIHM) in Uttarakhand and requested release of the remaining amount of Rs one crore out of the approved amount of Rs 4.75 crore for Food Craft Institute (FCI) based at Almora.