In a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, many important decisions were taken, including the approval of an amendment to the departmental structure of the Uttarakhand Biotechnology Council. The Haldwani Headquarters and Dehradun Centre posts will be kept in the integrated cadre.
Approval has been given for creating 18 new Geology and Mining Department posts to deal with incidents like land subsidence. It has been decided to issue the final notification of flood plain zoning on both banks of Asan River (from Bhatta Fall to Asan Barrage) and to include some construction works in the permissible category.
The Uttarakhand Investment and Infrastructure Development Board (UIIDB) has been entrusted with monetising the operation of five inspection buildings (Ranikhet, Uttarkashi, Duggalbitta, Harshil and Rishikesh) of the Public Works Department in PPP mode. The formation of the Uttarakhand State Allied and Healthcare Council has been approved under the National Allied and Healthcare Professions Commission Act 2021.
The cabinet has decided to operate the fund from the cess on foreign liquor/beer under the Chief Minister’s Women and Child Multipurpose Assistance Fund (Corpus Fund). It will be used for assistance in schemes run for women and children and support to orphaned children, destitute people and old women in disasters.
Earlier, the Central Government had approved a project at a cost of Rs 720.67 crore for the improvement work of Dehradun-Lal Tappar-Nepali Farm section of National Highway-7 and Nepali Farm-Motichur section (total length 36.82 km) of National Highway-34, marking an important step in road connectivity and traffic safety in Dehradun district.
CM Dhami expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari for this important approval. He said this project will not only ensure fast and safe traffic between Dehradun, Haridwar and Rishikesh, but will also make the Chardham Yatra route more accessible and smooth.
The main objective of this project is to comprehensively improve road safety by grade separation at the existing busy junctions and separating local traffic from the main road traffic. Under this, additional service roads will also be constructed, reducing accidents and traffic pressure. CM Dhami said that under the leadership of PM Modi, infrastructure is developing rapidly in Uttarakhand, and this project is another strong step towards the development of the state.