PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Dehradun
The Uttarakhand government has decided to set up a high level subcommittee for construction of ropeways in the State and deciding their priority of construction. A directive in this regard was given by chief secretary Anand Bardhan during a meeting held at the State secretariat on Tuesday to review the progress of construction of ropeways in the State.
He said that the secretaries of Tourism, Housing, Public Works and Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority will be the members of the subcommittee and it will be headed by the principal secretary of Planning. He added that based on the needs of the city the Tourism department and the local administration will decide on the locations for construction of the ropeway project. The CS directed the officers to prepare a plan for connecting Jageshwar Dham with a ropeway. Inquiring about the current status of various ropeway projects, the CS directed that Bridges Ropeways Tunnels and other Infrastructure Development Projects of Uttarakhand Limited (BRIDCUL) should be work as the regulatory authority for the ropeway projects in the State.
In the meeting the CM also reviewed the progress of the Mussoorie ropeway project. He directed that the issues related to a road near the lower terminal of this ropeway project should be resolved within the next three days and completed within the stipulated time frame.
The CS also reviewed the progress of the Hemkund Sahib and Kedarnath ropeways. He said that a logistics dry run for the Kedarnath ropeway should be conducted and work on identifying and rectifying unsafe locations should begin immediately.
He said that parking arrangements should be ensured at the lower terminal of the Kedarnath ropeway. He said that the process of land identification and land transfer for the construction of parking should be initiated simultaneously.
During the meeting, the CS was informed that the agreement for the Kedarnath ropeway has been signed and the letter of award (LOA) has been issued. It was also informed that the LiDAR survey for the project has been completed and the technical survey is underway. The officers informed that the LOA for Hemkunt Sahib has been issued, and the land survey is underway.
Principal secretary R Meenakshi Sundaram, secretaries Pankaj Kumar Pandey, R Rajesh Kumar and other senior officers attended the meeting.
