The Uttarakhand Emergency Assistance Project (UEAP) of the State’s Disaster Management department received the 2016 Best Performing Project Award from the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India and the Asian Development Bank. The award was presented during the tripartite portfolio meeting held in Bengaluru. There were 10 multicriteria indicators on the basis of which the UEAP won the award out of 84 multi sectorial projects across the country.
The State’s disaster management secretary and UEAP programme director Amit Singh Negi appreciated the efforts of the project team members. Disaster management additional secretary Savin Bansal said that the forum had appreciated the efforts of the State Government and UEAP.
After the June 2013 disaster, the UEAP which was financially assisted by the Asian Development Bank, was implemented to support the State Government in the efforts to rehabilitate and reconstruct the damaged water supply system, affected roads, tourism and civil aviation. Under UEAP, rehabilitation and augmentation of water supply systems was undertaken in the disaster affected areas of Uttarakhand.
According to department officials, the roads were reconstructed and alternative roads were constructed for the benefit of the locals so that at the time of emergency, people can be easily evacuated.
About 147 bridle paths were introduced for the betterment of the communities living in Uttarakhand. The roads were constructed in Almora, Bageshwar, Chamoli, Nainital, Pauri, Pithoragarh, Rudraprayag, Tehri and Uttarkashi districts. Some of the chronic slip zones in Tehri, Chamoli, Dehradun, Almora, Nainital and Bageshwar were also treated.
Under the project, earthquake resilient huts were also introduced in the tourism sector here.The existing structure of the rest houses was also renovated and enhanced with more facilities.
The State also worked to enhance the civil aviation facilities like helipads and hangars.