Ropeways are crucial to boost tourism, economy: Bardhan

CS chairs 1st Board Meeting to fast-track ropeway projects in U’khand
my uttarakhand news Bureau
Dehradun, 23 Feb: The inaugural board meeting on the development, implementation, operation and maintenance of ropeway projects in Uttarakhand was held here today under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Anand Bardhan. Senior officials departments, stakeholders and PPP companies concerned participated in the meeting. During the meeting, a detailed review of the current status of ongoing and proposed ropeway projects across various districts was undertaken and progress reports were sought from the respective District Magistrates.
On the occasion, Bardhan emphasised that ropeway projects are crucial for the state’s economy, tourism, mobility and overall development and he directed the officials to accelerate the pace of work towards implementation of these projects. He also instructed that processes such as visibility studies should be presented before the High-Powered Committee at the preliminary stage itself, enabling timely and detailed deliberations on all aspects of the projects. He further directed intensive and swift scrutiny of ropeway-related proposals to ensure prompt resolution of the issues and to avoid unnecessary delays.
During the meeting, special emphasis was laid on coordination, timeliness and Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects. The CS instructed the officials that all the technical, financial and the administrative approvals, along with other formalities for ropeway projects being developed under the PPP mode, must be completed quickly so that work is finished within stipulated timelines. Taking note of delays in the Dehradun–Mussoorie ropeway project, explicit instructions were issued to expedite its progress.
He also called for established coordination between district administration, government construction agencies, the Public Works Department (PWD) and the security agencies to resolve challenges arising at the local level. Additionally, instructions were also issued to ensure that matters requiring the attention of the High-Powered Committee or the Board are submitted in a timely manner.
Among those present at the meeting were Secretary Dilip Jawalkar, Secretary Pankaj Pandey, Secretary Dhiraj Singh Garbyal, Additional Secretary Abhishek Ruhela, Prashant Jain from NHLML and officers from other related departments.