Centre to give Rs 1,700 crore to build new rural roads in U’khand

The Centre will provide Rs 1,700 crore to Uttarakhand for constructing 184 new roads in rural areas of the Himalayan state.

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan has agreed to the request made by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami to construct 1,228 kilometers of rural roads mainly in the hill areas paralyzed by the rain disaster in August.

Advertisement

The Centre’s acceptance to sponsor 184 new rural roads in Uttarakhand came at a meeting between Dhami and the Union Minister in Delhi on Tuesday.

In the meeting with Chauhan, the chief minister informed the union minister that 946 roads and 15 bridges in the state were damaged in the natural disaster this monsoon. He demanded around ₹650 crore for their reconstruction; this destruction was extremely challenging for a hilly state having limited resources.

Dhami stated that the centre’s special cooperation is needed to rebuild damaged infrastructure rapidly. Uttarakhand Chief Minister further urged Chauhan to release funds for the state to repair nearly 5900 houses damaged by the recent disaster.

Dhami informed chauhan that the state has nearly 90 percent small and marginal farmers and persistent crop damage by wild animals is a serious challenge in the hills.

He expressed gratitude to the central government for including fencing work under its Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) Scheme. Dhami demanded a separate budget for crop protection and production enhancement, urging provision of ₹200 crore annual budget for the next five years.