Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 14 Apr: Former Chief Minister and veteran Congress leader Harish Rawat today described Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Uttarakhand as an electoral tour. Commenting on Modi’s visit, Rawat claimed that with elections approaching such programmes are part of the political exercise. While acknowledging the Delhi–Dehradun Expressway as a gift for the State, he also pointed out shortcomings in its planning. Rawat cautioned that due to inadequate foresight, Dehradun could face congestion and bottlenecks for the next two to three years or even longer, with traffic jams becoming a pressing issue for residents. He emphasised that while the expressway was necessary, internal road connectivity also requires improvement to ensure proper synchronisation with the new infrastructure.
He argued that the absence of such synchronisation might turn the expressway into a temporary inconvenience for Uttarakhand’s people. Rawat conceded that the corridor was indeed a boon, but added that the lack of internal planning and the State Government’s short-sightedness can make it a source of difficulty in the immediate future. He cited an instance where a BJP leader claimed that Delhi could now be reached in two and a half hours, yet travelling from Rajpur to Asarodi took him more than three hours, highlighting the mismatch between external connectivity and local road conditions.
Rawat claimed that during the Congress Government’s tenure, steps had been initiated to improve internal routes, but those processes had not been advanced in the past nine years under the BJP Government. He further demanded that the Delhi–Dehradun Expressway be named after Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, underscoring his contribution to social justice and equality.
