PIONEER NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun
Dehradun Citizens Forum hosted a dialogue on the proposed Rispana-Bindal Elevated Corridor, urging for greater transparency and environmental prudence in the planning of the city’s most ambitious infrastructure project. Held under the Forum’s ongoing “Dehradun Dialogues” series at The Doon Library, the town hall meeting brought together concerned citizens, government representatives and technical experts in the public conversation of the project that has sparked both curiosity and apprehension across the city.
The executive engineer from the Public Works Department Jitendra Tripathi, along with officials from Spectrum, the government’s appointed consultancy firm, gave a detailed technical presentation outlining the vision behind the elevated corridor. Conceived as a 26-kilometre network of roads built atop the Rispana and Bindal riverbeds, the corridor is intended to ease urban traffic and serve as a shortcut to Mussoorie. The concerned citizens opined that with its towering pillars averaging 15 metres in height, the project is set to alter the city’s landscape dramatically. A diverse group of attendees, including engineers, doctors, scientists, environmentalists, educators, social workers and professionals from tourism and IT sectors, participated in the discussion. The Forum, which comprises over 450 citizens committed to sustainable and inclusive urban development, facilitated a robust question-and-answer session following the presentation.
Participants voiced strong concerns about the corridor’s long-term environmental and social consequences, with several calling for the immediate release of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report. The demand reflected a growing sentiment that civic engagement must be grounded in access to key information and data, enabling a transparent cost-benefit analysis of such projects. While policy-level decisions remained outside the session’s scope, the Forum pressed for inclusive planning processes and warned against the imposition of top-down schemes that overlook grassroots realities. Many citizens also stressed that the rejuvenation of the Rispana and Bindal rivers must be undertaken independently of the elevated corridor, with careful consideration of ecological and community impacts. One of the members of the Forum Anoop Nautiyal said that as the discussion concluded, PWD officials, sensing the citizens’ skepticism, requested the Forum to compile and submit a comprehensive note reflecting public feedback. It is pertinent to mention here that the proposed Rispana-Bindal Elevated Corridor is a massive infrastructure project estimated at Rs 6,250 crore which continues to be a subject of intense public scrutiny.
