V K Singh to review progress of Char Dham projects in U'khand

Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways Gen (Retd) Dr V K Singh will on Thursday leave for a three-day visit to Uttarakhand to review the progress of Char Dham project.

He will be accompanied by Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat. The Union Minister will review the progress of Char Dham project with project engineers and officials, as per the government press release.

Gen V K Singh will also conduct an aerial survey of areas including Narendra Nagar, Chamba, Chinyalisaur, Dharasu, Barkot, Jankichatti, and Uttarkashi.

Char Dham National Highway (NH) connectivity programme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2016 comprises projects of improvement of 889 km length of NHs leading to Yamunotri Dham, Gangotri Dham, Kedarnath Dham, Badrinath Dham and part of the route leading to Kailash Mansarovar yatra.

The projects under Char Dham Programme include the widening of existing roads along with sufficient slope protection by way of erection of retaining walls and breast walls and by deploying drapery system, netting, anchoring, reinforced wall etc.

The projects include mitigation measures of chronic landslide and sinking zones as a stand-alone project or part of road widening projects to avoid landslide and safety of road users.

Moreover, bioengineering methods like hydroseeding are being used for vegetative growth on fragile slopes for their stability.

All these measures shall safeguard the highway and habitation against natural calamity.