Dissatisfied locals from the Chinyalisaud area of Uttarkashi district have accused the authorities concerned of negligence due to which the construction of Chinyali-Kot-Bagi motor road has not yet been completed even after 10 years of approval. Under the banner of Chinyali-Kot-Bagi motor road construction agitation committee they have threatened to intensify their agitation unless proactive action is taken soon to facilitate construction of the road.
Addressing the media here on Friday, committee coordinator Chinyalisaud resident Dharmanand Bijalwan said that the motor road was approved about 10 years ago in 2006 and after being initially allocated to the Public Works Department was later transferred to the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) in January 2014 and the felling of trees for road construction was also completed.
He said, “We have been seeking execution of the relevant government order for construction of the motor road for some years now and have received only hollow assurances. last year we submitted a memorandum to the PMGSY chief engineer in Dehradun on the issue. However, as nothing was done, the villagers had blocked traffic on the highway to Gangotri in protest on September 10 last year. The PMGSY superintending engineer had then given us written assurance seeking a three-month period for budget approval. Again, as the promised work was not started, we wrote to the Uttarkashi district magistrate in November last year which too elicited no progress.
We then submitted a memorandum to the chief secretary earlier this month warning of indefinite closure of Chinyalisaud Tehsil from January 25 while also informing the DM about this on January 12 but so far no action has been taken by the authorities,” said Bijalwan. He added that the committee of locals had been keeping the chief minister, MlA and MP concerned along with other public representatives informed about the issue from time to time but no progress had been achieved towards construction of the motor road.