Uttarakhand CM Dhami Calls On Union Finance Minister And Union Rail Minister

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Shri Pushkar Singh Dhami paid a courtesy call on Union Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi. During the meeting, the Chief Minister requested the Union Finance Minister to finance an amount of 1774 crores for the Song Dam drinking water project under the special assistance of the Government of India for capital expenditure. He said that this project would solve the drinking water problem of Dehradun.

The Chief Minister said that in Dehradun city and its suburbs, drinking water is being arranged mainly through tube wells, as a result of which the ground water level is continuously declining. Due to the increasing population of Dehradun, the demand for drinking water is continuously increasing rapidly, due to which the present drinking water supply system will not be able to meet the future drinking water demand. In view of this problem and to provide continuous drinking water facility in future, Saung Dam drinking water project is proposed on Saug river, a tributary of river Ganga. The total cost of the proposed project is Rs.2021 crore.

The Chief Minister said that with the construction of the project, 150 M.L.D. Drinking water will be available to about 10 lakh population of Dehradun city and its suburban areas through ‘Gurutva’. After the construction of the project, the dependence on tube wells for drinking water system will almost end, due to which there will be a huge reduction in groundwater exploitation, as a result of which there will be an increase in the ground water level, reduction in the emission of green house gases and in future new tube wells and operations on them will be reduced. Maintenance related expenditure will also come down drastically. Apart from this, the construction of the project will create a lake, which will promote tourism in the area, which will generate employment and increase the income of local citizens. The environment will also benefit from the construction of the lake. Another main advantage of this project is flood control, as a result of the construction of the project, about 15,000 population of 10 villages of Dehradun district will be provided protection from annual floods in Saung river. The project is very important for the water supply of Dehradun city, all necessary technical forest land transfer stage-1 and other necessary approvals related to the project have been obtained from the concerned departments/ministries. The expenditure (Rs. 247 crore) for the rehabilitation and resettlement of the families affected by the project will be borne by the State Government.

Pushkar Singh Dhami also paid a courtesy call on Union Railway Minister Shri Ashwini Vaishnav in New Delhi. The Chief Minister requested the Railway Minister to start a Janshatabdi train service between Tanakpur-Dehradun and Shatabdi Express train service between Delhi-Ramnagar.

The Chief Minister also requested the Railway Minister to approve the construction of the tunnel-based rail line project and the Rishikesh-Uttarkashi rail line project to connect Dehradun to Saharanpur with the railway via Mohand.

Urging the Union Railway Minister to start Haridwar to Varanasi Vande Bharat Rail Budget, the Chief Minister said that this would provide great convenience to the devotees and tourists.

Expressing gratitude for the cooperation received in the past, Chief Minister Mr. Dhami urged Railway Minister Mr. Ashwini Vaishnav to bear the entire cost of the Kichha-Khatima new rail line project by the Government of India. He requested that Ramnagar-Haridwar-Dehradun direct train service should be operated. Adequate number of train services should also be started from various places of the country mainly New Delhi, Mathura and Lucknow etc. to Tanakpur for the remaining period of Purnagiri fair.

While discussing with the Railway Minister on rail services in Uttarakhand, the Chief Minister said that at present Dehradun-Kathgodam Janshatabdi is the only rail service to connect Kumaon and Garhwal. Due to the presence of a large part of the Kumaon region as well as the Nepal border, the traffic of the people there also happens from Tanakpur only. That’s why it is necessary to operate a Janshatabdi train service between Tanakpur-Dehradun.

The Chief Minister said that the famous tourist destination Jim Corbett National Park, located under Ramnagar area of Nainital district of the state, receives constant movement of tourists from the country and abroad. Therefore, it is very necessary to operate the Delhi-Ramnagar Shatabdi Express train service.

The Chief Minister said that at present one has to go through Haridwar to travel by rail from Dehradun to New Delhi. Haridwar-Dehradun rail line is single lane. Due to the fact that most of the part from Dehradun to Haridwar is under Rajaji National Park, the speed of the train is also highly controlled from the point of view of the safety of wildlife. As a result, the entire journey takes relatively longer time. If the rail line from Dehradun to Saharanpur via Mohand, some part of which will pass through a tunnel, is constructed, then the rail traffic between New Delhi and Dehradun will also become faster. As a result, apart from facilitating the movement of tourists in the state, commercial activities will also get a boost. Similar to the tunnel system being adopted in the Rishikesh-Karnprayag rail project, approval of the project should be given after testing the feasibility of a tunnel-based rail line project to connect Dehradun to Saharanpur with the railway via Mohand.