Garhwal Post Bureau
New Delhi/Dehradun, 7 Aug: According to the Union Government, over half of the Rs 357 crore project aimed at treating landslides and land subsidence along the Rudraprayag-Kedarnath Road has been completed. This information was provided today by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in response to a parliamentary query raised by state president and Rajya Sabha MP Mahendra Bhatt. In another development, the Centre has also approved the establishment of a state-of-the-art Biosafety Laboratory-3 at AIIMS Rishikesh in order to further boost its research infrastructure.
It may be recalled that Mahendra Bhatt had sought details regarding the central government’s efforts to address landslide and subsidence issues on the Rudraprayag-Kedarnath stretch through the unstarred question number 2040 raised in the Rajya Sabha, Responding to the query, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari informed the House that the Union Government has sanctioned treatment works at 17 critical locations on National Highway-107, spanning from Rudraprayag to Gaurikund near Kedarnath, with an overall budget of Rs 357 crores.
Gadkari further informed that, of these works, work has been completed at eight locations at an expenditure of approximately Rs 172.56 crores. The bidding process has commenced for three additional sites, with an estimated cost of Rs 39.25 crores. In addition, work is already underway at six locations, where works valued at around Rs 145.22 crores are currently in progress. These efforts, he said, are part of a comprehensive strategy to ensure safer travel and infrastructure resilience in the landslide-prone region.
Besides this, Bhatt had also sought updates regarding the establishment of a central research laboratory at AIIMS Rishikesh through an unstarred question in Rajya Sabha. In response to Bhatt’s question, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Prataprao Jadhav responded that under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana, AIIMS Rishikesh has been equipped with advanced infrastructure and high-end research facilities. These include a Multidisciplinary Research Unit (MRU) and a Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratory (VRDL), both of which are designed to support students and faculty in conducting cutting-edge medical research on cancer and other diseases.
It was also shared that funded by the Department of Health Research, the VRDL plays a crucial role in the advanced diagnosis and management of viral infections, while the MRU facilitates targeted genomic sequencing for various cancers and genetic disorders. In a significant boost to its research capabilities, the establishment of Biosafety Laboratory-3 at AIIMS Rishikesh has also received formal approval, marking a major step forward in the institution’s preparedness for handling high-risk pathogens and conducting advanced biomedical research.
