Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna called on Union Minister of Road, Transport and Highways Dr. CP Joshi and sought immediate assistance for calamity hit area in Uttarakhand. Mr. Bahuguna also met Union Defence Minister AK Antony and sought requisite assistance from him.
Chief Minister Bahuguna said that Uttarakhand was prone to disasters of various kinds and the recent monsoon had wrecked havoc to the road infrastructure of the State. Mr. Bahuguna said that National Highways at Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotry Dham routes had been damaged in the natural calamity and various bridges swept away in the deluge. He said that as a result pilgrims were stranded at those places and the goods movements to those areas had been affected leading to shortages and other problems.
Chief Minister Bahuguna urged the Union Minister to provide sufficient resources, manpower and machinery at the disposal of constructing agency i.e. Border Road Organization to deal with the disaster.
Union Minister Dr. CP Joshi assured Mr. Bahuguna to extend all possible help to the State. He said that BRO would repair the roads and bridges at Gangotri route in 10 days to facilitate a temporary traffic flow. He said that an immediate and long term measures would be taken in the disaster affected areas. Also present on the occasion were Union Minister of State for Road, Transport and Highways Jitendra Prasad and BRO Director General Lt. General S Ravishankar.
In his meeting with the Union Defence Minister Antony, Mr. Bahuguna expressed his dissatisfaction over the progress of General Staff roads in the State and said that it ought to be expedited. He said that need was to provide sufficient financial resources at the disposal of BRO for timely completion of the important roads. Stating that Uttarakhand was prone to disasters of various kinds, he asserted that it was imperative that BRO should have all the requisite manpower and machinery to deal with the disasters. He expected guidance and cooperation from the Union Minister in this direction.
Mr. Antony said that he was personally monitoring the situation in disaster hit areas in Uttarakhand. He said that a high level meeting would be convened on coming Friday. The Union Minister stating that helicopters had been sent for relief work, assured to provide more choppers if needed.
