Last Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for multiple projects worth Rs 18,000 crore in Dehradun.
The Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor
Of the 11 developmental projects, the Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor which will be running from Eastern Peripheral Expressway Junction to Dehradun will be reportedly worth Rs 8,300 crore. The corridor is expected to significantly reduce the travel time from Delhi to Dehradun from six hours to merely 2.5 hours.
As reported by The Economic Times, the corridor will be having seven major interchanges for connectivity from Haridwar, Muzaffarnagar, Shamli, Yamunagar, Baghpat, Meerut and Baraut. Also, it will reportedly have Asia’s largest wildlife elevated corridor of 12 km for unrestricted wildlife movement. To help reduce impact on the wildlife a 340 m long tunnel will be constructed near Dat Kaali temple, Dehradun.
The Ganeshpur-Dehradun section will be reportedly having multiple animal passes to avoid any animal-vehicle collisions. Going forward, the corridor will also be having rainwater harvesting at intervals of 500 m and over 400 water recharge points.
Worth Rs 2,000 crore, a greenfield alignment project will be constructed from Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor which will connect Halgoa, Saharanpur to Bhadrabad, Haridwar. The project is will improve connectivity and also reduce the travel time from Delhi to Haridwar.
The Haridwar Ring Road Project
The Haridwar Ring Road project stretching from Manoharpur to Kangri will be build at the cost of Rs 1,600 crore. The project aims to break the traffic congestion in Haridwar city, especially during the peak tourist season and to also improve connectivity within the Kumaon zone.
The Dehradun and Paonta Sahib Project
Aimed to reduce travel time and improve connectivity between Dehradun and Paonta Sahib, Himachal Pradesh, the Dehradun and Paonta Sahib project will be build worth Rs 1,700 crore. The project will reportedly boost interstate tourism. Similarly, the widening of the Najibabad-Kotdwar road is also expected to reduce travel time and improve the connectivity to Lansdowne. The report from the daily further suggested that a bridge across River Ganga, next to the Laksham Jhula will be constructed having glass deck for people walking and will also allow light weight vehicles to pass across.
Other projects
Furthermore, PM Modi also laid the foundation stone for the Child Friendly City project, projects related to development of water supply, road and drainage system worth over Rs 700 crore. Foundation stone for projects related to smart infrastructure at Shri Badrinath Dham and Gangotri-Yamunotri Dham and medical college in Haridwar worth Rs 500 crore were also laid.
Seven projects including on travel safety by tackling chronic landslides in the region were also integrated. These projects include landslide mitigation project at Lambagad (which is en-route the Badrinath Dham) and chronic landslide treatment at Sakanidhar, Srinagar and Devprayag on NH-58. The Prime Minister also inaugurated the 120 MW Vyasi Hydroelectric Project built over River Yamuna at a cost of over Rs 1,700 crore along with a Himalayan Culture Center at Dehradun.
Image courtesy: The Indian Express