PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun
Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami met Union Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi on Thursday and discussed various issues related to the State while also seeking approval for Uttarakhand under the special assistance plan for States.Dhami said the population pressure in the State’s urban areas is rising consistently.
The upgradation of the urban drainage system is vital in the State which is ecologically sensitive and witnesses heavy rain. Uttarakhand has prepared a storm water drainage system improvement and upgradation DPR for the 10 of its most rain-affected districts and the estimated cost of this project is Rs 8,589.47 crore. He requested the Union Finance minister to grant approval for these works under the special assistance plan for capital investment.
Dhami also requested for swift approval to externally aided projects. Out of the three important projects submitted by the State, the Uttarakhand climate resilience development project has received approval. Along with this, the State has also submitted proposals for public financial management strengthening project worth Rs 850 crore and another project amounting to Rs 800 crore for making the water supply system more efficient.
He requested the Union minister to grant approval to these two projects too. Dhami said that as assured by the Finance ministry in the past, approval should also be granted to four additional major projects apart from sealing of externally aided projects. These projects including the Rs 2,000 crore water and sanitation urban infrastructure development project, Rs 424 crore DRIP-III, Rs 3,638 crore Uttarakhand climate resilient intra-State power transmission system development and Rs 1,566 crore Uttarakhand power distribution reliability improvement project.
The CM said that all these projects will strengthen the basic infrastructure, water resource management, power and public service delivery systems in the State. Sitharaman assured all possible assistance from the Centre to the State.
