Chief Minister Harish Rawat on Tuesday called on Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari regarding improvements of Uttarakhand’s road network.
Gadkari assured Rawat of necessary action on the State’s demands.
During the meeting, the Chief Minister highlighted for speedy improvement of the National Highway 58 from Rudraprayag to Badrinath, NH-108 from Dharasu to Gangotri, NH-123 from Herbertpur to Badkot, NH-94 from Dharasu to Fulchatti, NH-109 from Rudraprayag to Gaurikund and NH-125 from Tanakpur to Pithoragarh.
He said, “Thousands of tourists and pilgrims visiting Uttarakhand use these routes and the condition of these roads has a negative impact on tourism. The condition of road links between Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh is also deplorable. It would be in national interest to renovate the Saharanpur-Dehradun, Saharanpur-Roorkee-Haridwar, Najibabad-Kotdwar, Rampur-Rudrapur, Pilibhit-Tanakpur, Bahedi-Kichha and Moradabad-Kashipur to Thakurdwara/Aligarh highways.
Urgent repairs were needed on stretches of highways affected by land sliding including the slide zones at Nandprayag, Maithana, Birahi, Patal Ganga, Pagalnala, Helang, Baldaura and lambagad,” said Rawat.
He further said that an amount had been approved in the past for re-surfacing of the national highways linking the Char Dhams but the work had not been started yet on the national highways. The amounts approved in the past included Rs 47.65 crore for NH-109 Rudraprayag-Gaurikund, Rs 26.52 crore for NH-94 Dharasu to Fulchatti and Rs 16.31 crore for NH-123 Herbertpur to Badkot.
Rawat also sought approval for a two-lane tunnel near the Dat Kali temple on NH-72 and ROBs at Ajabpur and Mohkampur in Dehradun.
He sought improvement in riding quality and treatment of slide zones on NH-108 from Dharasu Bend to Gangotri, Rudraprayag to Badrinath on NH-58 and from Tawaghat to Pithoragarh on NH-125. There was need to speed up the ongoing construction work on the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra route on the Tawaghat-Ghatiyabagad-lipulekh stretch. He proposed construction of a bridge at Gunji and three bridges near Kalapani for the convenience of travellers.
He also sought swift approval to the DPR sent by the Indian Military Academy (IMA) in Dehradun for construction of an under-pass on Chakrata Road.