The Char Dham road project is an ambitious project envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is very important from the strategic point of view.
Work should be expedited and pending cases of land transfer, forest and environmental clearance should be cleared in a time bound manner at the State and Centre to ensure timely completion of the project, said the Union minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari.
He was speaking in a video conference on the Char Dham project attended by the Union minister of Environment and Forests, Prakash Javdekar, Union MoS for Road Transport, VK Singh and chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on Friday.
In the meeting, Gadkari also agreed in principle to Rawat’s request for widening the national highways leading to the summer capital Gairsain. Gadkari stressed that officials at the centre and state levels should work in coordination to ensure timely completion of the works.
The officials should hold meetings consistently to clear objections, he said.CM Trivendra Singh Rawat said that work on the Char Dham road project is being executed at a swift pace.
He requested that since Gairsain had been declared the summer capital, national highways number 87 and 309A should be developed with two lanes.
The traffic to this location is expected to increase since it was declared summer capital, considering which it is important to widen NH 87, said Rawat. Gadkari agreed in principle to the request, asking that the detailed project report for the same be submitted to the ministry soon. Speaking in the meeting the Union minister of Environment and Forests said that the ministry is expediting all types of clearances related to the Char Dham project.
The Union MoS opined that the entire Uttarakhand region is strategically very important. The officials concerned at the centre and state will have to fulfil their responsibility to ensure swift completion of the project.
Officials informed in the meeting that the 826 kilometre long Char Dham project costing Rs 12,072 crore was inaugurated in December 2016 by PM Modi. Work on about 350 kilometre length of this project has been completed so far.
