Rs 800 crore cement plant to be set up at Gumma: CM

Shimla, Jul 17 (UNI) Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today said Rs 800 crore cement plant will be set up at Gumma area of Shimla district and provide employment to 5,000 people of the area.

The cement plant besides providing direct or indirect employment to 5,000 people would also improve the lot of the people of the area, he told a deputation of representatives of panchayats of Stota, Bouhar, Pabhawan and Halau who called on him here.

Mr Singh said it had been made mandatory for the plant authorities to spend 1.5 per cent of its project cost on the development of the local area.

Besides, they have also been directed to incorporate latest pollution control devices in the project to ensure that pollution was kept under control, he said.

He said the three MW Sainj micro hydel project coming up at Sainj area of Kullu district would also generate employment avenues for the local people.

Reiterating his government's resolve to connect every panchayat with a motorable road, he said, the marooned Kupvi, in Shimla district, which was up till now not connected by road, was being connected from three sides.

The area was being connected to the district headquarters by Sainj-Dimmu-Kupvi, Pulwahal-Sarain-Chopal and Kupvi-Dahiya-Chopal roads, he said, adding that work on the Sainj-Dimmu-Kupvi road was nearing completion.

The Chief Minister said work on the Pulwahal-Sarain-Chopal was in progress, while a detailed project report of the Kupvi-Dahiya-Chopal road had been submitted to NABARD for approval.

The distance between the district headquarter and Chopal would be reduced by 40 km after the completion of Sainj-Dimmu-Kupvi road, by 45 km after completion of Pulwahal-Sarain-Chopal road and by 70 km after Kupvi-Dahiya-Chopal road was completed, he said.

He said the Himachal Government was spending a sum of Rs 125 crore on roads and bridges of the state of which Rs 32 crore would be spent on the Kupvi sub-division alone.

In view of the difficult geophysical conditions of the area, the state government had sanctioned about 75 senior secondary, high, middle and primary schools in the area during the last four years, he added.

UNI