By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, Jul 10: Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami reviewed the short, medium and long-term roadmap prepared by the Forest Department and Public Works Department to achieve the goals of Strong Uttarakhand by the year 2025 at the Secretariat, on Monday.
During the review of the Forest Department, the Chief Minister directed the officers to speed up the work being done under CAMPA. It should be ensured that the funds received under CAMPA are utilized in a timely and proper manner. Continuous efforts should be made in the direction of increasing the livelihood of the people from forest resources. Work should be done in mission mode to promote walnut, bamboo, oak, teak, popular and medicinal plants. More efforts should be made to increase the livelihood of the people through the Pirul policy, he instructed.
In the meeting, the CM directed the officers of the Forest Department to plant trees on a large scale in the state, during the Harela festival. Special attention should be paid to planting fruit and medicinal plants. Public participation is necessary for tree plantation. For this, full cooperation of social organizations and people should be taken. Special attention should be given towards water conservation and regeneration of water sources. Work should be done by the Forest Department in the direction of the construction of ponds for water harvesting. Continuous efforts should be made to reduce human-wildlife conflict.
During the review of the Forest Department, it was informed that ecotourism destinations are being developed by the department to double the economy by 2026-27. Work is being done to make Van Panchayats self-reliant. Efforts are being made to increase Resin (lisa) production and to simplify the process of felling trees located on private land.
During the review of the Public Works Department, CM Dhami instructed the officials that keeping in view the development of the tourism sector in the state, the work being done under the Mandir Mala Mission, the development of various cities and the possibilities of the future, construction and expansion of roads should be done. Along with technical surveys, work should be done in a planned manner for the development of roads. He instructed in the meeting that along with road construction, drainage arrangements should also be ensured. Special attention should be paid to quality in construction works. It should be ensured that natural water sources are not affected at the time of road cutting. Fruit trees should be planted along the roads.
Pushkar Singh Dhami inquired about the preparations made by the Public Works Department in case of road blockage on various routes of the state due to rain. He instructed that if the road is obstructed due to rain, complete arrangements should be made to make them smooth immediately. He said that all old bridges should also be surveyed. The works should be expedited for the settlement of forest land cases going on at various places for road construction. All the ongoing works related to the construction and improvement of roads should be completed within the stipulated time, for this, the responsibility of the officers should also be fixed. He instructed the Secretary Public Works Department that whatever proposals are to be sent by the department to the Government of India, they should be made available soon.
During the meeting, it was informed that in the next two years, a target has been set in the Public Works Department to asphalt 3,500 km of roads and renovate 3,500 km of roads. Dehradun, Haridwar, Rudrapur and Haldwani Ring Road will be constructed under long-term plans. The work of the first phase for the construction of roads for the Manaskhand scheme is in progress. During the rainy season, 400 JCBs have been deployed on various routes, these have been connected to GIS.
Forest Minister Subodh Uniyal, Additional Chief Secretary Radha Raturi, Secretary Dr Pankaj Kumar, Chief Conservator of Forests Anoop Malik, Additional Secretary Vijay Kumar Jogdande, Officials of Public Works and Forest Department were present in the meeting.