By Our Staff Reporter
DEHRADUN, 7 Aug: Himachal Pradesh Cabinet Minister Vikramaditya Singh met Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami here today. On this occasion, a discussion was held between Dhami and Singh on better connecting Uttarakhand and Himachal. The Chief Minister said that local farmers should be given exemption in toll tax on the border of both the states.
On this occasion, the Chief Minister also spoke to Himachal Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu over the phone and discussed further expanding the mutual connectivity of the two states. He said that the geographical location of Uttarakhand and Himachal is almost the same. In the recently concluded NITI Aayog meeting also he had requested specific policies for the overall development of the Himalayan states.
Vikramaditya Singh said that due to the movement of vehicles on the 550 metre long 2 lane bridge on the Yamuna River in Paonta Sahib connecting Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, heavy vibrations can be felt. After IIT Roorkee’s investigation and recommendation, the Union Ministry of Road Transport has also approved its repair. For this, it is necessary to close the traffic on the bridge for at least 2 months. Dhami said that the state government would provide full support for this. He said that before the repair of the bridge, a diversion plan will be made by the District Magistrate, Dehradun, and District Magistrate, Sirmaur.
The HP Minister said that, for smooth flow of traffic, the Forest, Mining, Excise and RTO barriers built near the bridge and the parking of loaded vehicles need to be shifted 1 kilometre away from the bridge. On this also, the Chief Minister assured necessary action.
Singh, while emphasising the efforts to connect Himachal with Uttarakhand, also discussed the construction of an 820 metre long connecting road connecting to the 540 metre long Bhimawala Naavghat bridge built by Uttarakhand on Yamuna River. He said that with the construction of the 10 kilometre road from Dhola to Sewadogri connecting Himachal with Uttarakhand, traffic in Dodra Kwar area will become smooth for all 12 months and mutual connectivity of both the states would also be established.
On this occasion, former Lok Sabha MP of Himachal Pradesh, Pratibha Singh, Secretary, Public Works Department, Dr Pankaj Kumar Pandey and officials of the Public Works Department of Himachal Pradesh were also present.
