U'khand CM unveils 'Vision 2020'

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh P Nishank today announced the ‘Vision 2020’ plan, under which his government would develop tourist sites, set up hydel projects and create new opportunities in the herbal sector to boost revenue in the hill state.

Under the plan, the government would prepare policy guidelines and hire a consultant in this regard.

Nishank said a preliminary list of top eight tourist sites like the Valley of Flowers, Chaubata, Lansedown has been prepared where world-class infrastructure would be developed.

Special packages for foreign and domestic tourists would be prepared.

A special ticket of Rs 2-5 lakh would be charged from foreigners, he said. “We want to select a total of five tourist sites,” he added.

Thrust would also be given on eco-tourism.

A special focus would be on adventure tourism between the 70-km long stretch of Ganga between Devprayag and Muni-Ki-Reti where the government is planning to earn a revenue of Rs 1,000 crore.

A special policy framework is being prepared in this regard under which the government has rejected the demand of adventure tourism operators for not auctioning the rafting beach sites for white water rafting. “We will go for auction to boost the adventure sports in this area,” Nishank said.

‘Vision 2020’ also envisages special focus on the herbal sector in the hill state where thousands of natural herbs are found especially in the Alpine region.

The government would rope in its Ayurvedic university at Haridwar for research work on herbs.

“The plan is to provide life-saving herbs to the world,” Nishank said.

Nishank said the government would also tie up with Baba Ramdev’s Pitanjal Yogpeeth that has agreed to buy all these herbs from the government.

“A special support price for herbs would also be declared. Efforts would also be made to set up herbal-based industries in the state,” he said.

Nishank said the government had identified a potential of 30,000 Mw of hydro power in the state and talks are on with a Japanese private company to develop hydel projects without the support of reservoirs.

“This Japanese company has developed a special technique under which hydro power can be produced without the construction of reservoirs,” Nishank said, adding that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this regard would also be signed shortly.