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Ajay Uprety
Ajay Uprety

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Uttarakhand roundup: Rail connectivity to char dham, demand for permanent capital and more

INDIA-ECONOMY-TRAIN Four trains will run initially, and the capacity would be raised to 16 trains in couple of years

Journey to four dhams by train

Uttarakhand will soon witness expansion in rail services. Under this project, the nearest town of the four dhams—Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotori—will be connected by trains. Currently, trains reach Dehradun and Rishikesh. Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said survey in this regard will begin soon. The Railway Development Corporation has done the preliminary survey and the Railway Board has sanctioned Rs 120 crore for the location survey. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu will visit Uttarakhand to lay the foundation stone for this project and will visit Badrinath and Kedarnath, too. He will also carry out an aerial survey of the area. The railway track from Rishikesh to Karan Prayag will be extended to Joshimath and Sone Prayag. This 125 km route will have 17 tunnels and 85 per cent of this route will be through tunnels. Four trains will run initially, and the capacity would be raised to 16 trains in couple of years.

BJP leader’s son arrested for smuggling liquor

While senior BJP leaders like Narendra Modi and others have been emphasising good conduct and behaviour, junior leaders and their kin are embarrassing the party. Recently, the Uttarakhand police arrested the son of a BJP leader in connection with smuggling of illicit liquor. The accused was caught red handed with one of his accomplices during police checking. According to the police, BJP leader Poonam Jha’s son, Ashish Jha, was caught with six cartons of foreign liquor, which they were transporting in a car near Dehradun. After the arrest, the BJP leader created ruckus at the police station, but the cops refused to act on her word. According to the preliminary investigation, the duo has been smuggling liquor for quite some time.

Modi hails afforestation movement

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently took note of an Uttarakhand teacher and his movement. The PM even send a letter to Kalyan Rawat congratulating him on the 'Maiti movement', which is quite popular in rural pockets of Gharwal. The bride and groom are encouraged to plant at least one tree on the occasion of their marriage, thus increasing the forest cover in the region. Impressed by this, the PM wrote to Rawat stating that our 'friendly relationship with the nature is the basis of our life and every citizen should be sensitive towards nature'. Rawat has passed on the PM's message and congratulated his entire team, who have been spreading this movement. This movement started in 1995 from Gwaldam region of Gharwal, and, in the span of 22 years, reached 18 states and six other countries, including Nepal where it is known as ‘Maiti.’

Demand for capital

The Congress leader from Uttarakhand, Pradeep Tamta has bitterly assailed the present BJP government and has demanded a permanent capital for the hill state. Tamta said since the government in Uttarakhand is in majority and the same government is ruling at the centre, it was time to announce the permanent capital. It may be recalled that when the state was formed, Dehradun had been announced as  temporary capital, keeping its connectivity and better infrastructure in mind. Gairsen was selected as permanent capital, but even after 17 years of its formation, nothing concrete has been done in this connection.

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Topics : #Uttarakhand

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