Uttarakhand Government secures funding from ADB & BRICS Development Bank
Friday, 17 June 2022 | PNS | Dehradun
The Finance Ministry has approved an ambitious proposal of the State government for holistic development of Tehri lake and its catchment area with the help of multilateral development banks. Under this, the State government will get a total loan of $ 203 million through the Asian Development Bank and BRICS Development Bank. Koti Colony, New Tehri, Tiwari Village, Dobra Chanthi, Tehri lake and Madan Negi will be developed as clusters entailing the development of water sports centers at four places on Tehri lake, construction of tent colonies, a tourist road from Koti Colony to Dobra-Chanthi, homestay clusters, Dobra Chanthi park, multi-level car parking, integrated information center, entertainment complex, aquatic complex, three-star boutique hotel, smart infrastructure, bio-diversity park, Yoga and Panchakarma centre, ropeway and massive plantations and light and sound laser show. The ADB team is scheduled to visit Uttarakhand soon for this purpose.
This project aims to establish Tehri as a showcase tourist destination in Uttarakhand. The work will include restoring the historical importance of Tehri city, strengthening the tourism infrastructure, providing employment opportunities with better potential and reducing out-migration. The project objectives also include increasing the average duration of tourist stay in Tehri to three days.
Tourism secretary Dilip Jawalkar said, “Through this scheme, the Uttarakhand government wants to establish Tehri as an alternative tourism destination with the participation of local people. About 40,000 families directly and another 2,00,000 families will benefit from this project. Green technology will be used for this project, and compliance with mandatory safety standards will be ensured with emphasis on sustainable development and sustainable tourism.”
He further added, “Through this project, the social and economic status of the local people will be improved by building capacity as per the demand of the market. The core objective of the project is to move forward toward responsible tourism by developing rural areas as organic homestays without harming the environment. The project also proposes a systematic development to improve the level of health and sanitation. Local resources would be used to increase the sustainability of the project and the use of renewable sources of energy would be ensured. A massive tree plantation drive is also planned to reduce the carbon footprint.”
The State Government had submitted a revised proposal for this project to the Finance ministry, which included the development of tourism infrastructure and facilities in Tehri and a proposal to build a ring road around the lake. The proposal has been approved by the Finance ministry with the support of NITI Aayog, ministry of Rural Development, ministry of Road Transport and ministry of Tourism.
