Govt planning to build 825-km all-weather roads in Uttarakhand: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari

New Delhi, Feb 09: The central government has said that it planned to construct 825 km all-weather roads in the hill state of Uttarakhand, out of which approval had been given for the construction of 671-km roads at a cost of around Rs 12,072 crore.

Addressing the Rajya Sabha, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said, "Yes, the Ministry plans to construct 825-km all-weather road from Rishikesh to Janki Chati (Yamunotri), Gangotri, Gaurikund (Kedarnath), and Mana (Badrinath), including Tanakpur to Pithoragarh section of the Kailash-Mansarovar route in Uttarakhand."

He was responding to unstarred questions by Narain Dass Gupta of the Aam Aadmi Party. He said that the construction was initially targeted for completion by March 2020.

"However, the scheduled date of completion has been delayed mainly due to litigation in the National Green Tribunal and the Supreme Court by Citizens for Green Doon. The Supreme Court vide order dated August 8, 2019 constituted a high-powered committee under the chairmanship of Professor Ravi Chopra to look into environmental and related issues. The matter is still sub judice," he added.

The Minister was responding to another unstarred question about the estimated cost of the road projects and when the same were likely to be completed.