The Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA) will take up work on stretches of the Rispana and Bindal rivers as a pilot project for the re-development of these river fronts.
Acting on a pattern similar to that executed for the Sabarmati riverfront development project in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, the MDDA will resettle those dwelling on the riverbeds and banks as part of the project, said the MDDA vice chairman R Meenakshi Sundaram.
Addressing the media, Sundaram said that the Rispana and Bindal riverfront development project will be undertaken on lines similar to the Sabarmati riverfront development project. “Government of India undertaking WAPCOS is providing consultation for the river hydrology part of the project while another consultant will also be hired for the urban planning part of the project.
“As State funding for this project is unlikely, we are planning to make it a self financing project. We will secure a loan for the project and sell the commercial development to repay it. The project will be executed in mission mode involving officials of various departments concerned with MDDA as the key nodal agency. A complete household survey will be taken for the entire stretches of these rivers though initially the stretch of the Bindal from the Haridwar bypass to lalpul and stretch of the Rispana ahead of the Kishanpur police colony will be taken up as a pilot project.
The residents will be resettled from the Bindal to Transport Nagar while residents from Rispana would be resettled to Amwala Tarla area. Various aspects including sourcing water for these two rivers will also be studied,” said the MDDA vice chairman.