23 Feb : Uttarakhand CM B C Khanduri on Monday laid the foundation stones of a railway overbridge on Dehra Dun-Haridwar road and five other projects at Dehra Dun, which would involve a cost of Rs 170 crore.
Khanduri said the railway overbridge would make the road between Haridwar and Dehra Dun congestion free and journey more comfortable.The 240 meter long overbridge, being built at a cost of Rs 3833.68 lakh, would have four lanes and is expected to be completed within a year, he said.
Uttarakhand revives 120 MW Vyasi hydel project
The Uttarakhand government on Monday resumed work on the 120 MW Vyasi hydel project, which lay suspended for the last 16 years owing to paucity of fund.
The project, being built at a cost of Rs 758.59 crore on Tons river, a tributary of Yamuna, is expected to be completed in December 2011 and would earn a revenue of Rs 105.29 crore for the state.
Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister B C Khanduri said the government would give adequate compensation to the families, whose lands have been acquired for the project.
Stating that his government was committed to formulate a rehabilitation policy focusing interests of local people, Khanduri said the affected families would get free power as their share in the project.
In this regard, he said, one percent of the generated power would be earmarked for the affected families, who can either use it or it back to the producers.
Vyasi hydel project was started in 1979. In 1992 the government decided to close it due to inadequate fund even as 40 percent of the work had been completed.After the new state came into being in 2000, the government decided to handover the project to National Hydro Power Corporation to revive it.
Since the NHPC did not work with a desired pace, the state government transferred the project to its own enterprise –Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (UJVNL)–in May last year.Once the project, having two units of 60 MW each, is completed, it would add another 438.38 million units of power to the state, which is already generating 5000 million units of power annually.