Gadkari promises to make roads in Uttarakhand as good as those in US in 5 years

Says Centre wonâ€™t allow cutting of trees for Chardham all-weather road construction

ITDC INDIA EPRESS/ITDC R Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, on Wednesday, said the network of roads in Uttarakhand will become as good as those in the US in the next five years.

Talking to reporters in Dehradun after releasing the BJP's manifesto ahead of the upcoming assembly polls, Gadkari said the Rs 12,500 crore Chardham all-weather road project will be completed by December this year.

"Besides making the pilgrimage to the Himalayan temples safe during all seasons, it will be the lifeline of the people of Uttarakhand," he said.He also said the Centre has decided not to allow any cutting of trees for the construction of Chardham all-weather road.

"No trees will be cut. They will be transplanted." The minister said the Tanakpur-Pithoragarh highway and its stretch up to Lipulekh will also be completed before December this year.

These roads will make the journey to Kailash-Mansarovar via Uttarakhand very smooth. Gadkari said his ministry is introducing a new highway between Dehradun and Delhi which will reduce the travel time between the two cities to two hours.

This road will be so convenient for people that they will stop travelling between the two cities by air and prefer to take the road route, he said.Quoting former US president John F. Kennedy who once said "American roads are not good because America is rich but America is rich because American roads are good," Gadkari said over the next five years, roads in Uttarakhand will become as good as the roads in the US.

The Union minister also spoke of the sewage treatment plants set up and sewage lines laid in the Ganga and its tributaries when he was in charge of Namami Gange to make the river clean.

He said ropeway projects are going to come up at seven places in Uttarakhand which will give a boost to tourism.While work on ropeway projects in Kedarnath and Hemkund Sahib has started, work on the DPRs of five others are underway, he said.

These things were not heeded before the double engine government took over, he said.He expressed confidence that the people will vote for the BJP once again in the upcoming elections for the state's continued development.