Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Dehradun in Uttarakhand on Saturday to inaugurate and lay the foundation of a number of projects worth around ₹18,000 crore.
According to an official statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Modi will lay the foundation stone of 11 development projects, including the government’s ambitious project — the Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor (from Eastern Peripheral Expressway Junction to Dehradun). The corridor will be built at a cost of around ₹8,300 crore and after completion will reduce the travel time from Delhi to Dehradun to two-and-a-half hours. At present, it takes six hours to travel from Delhi to the Uttarakhand capital.
The corridor will have seven major interchanges for connectivity to Haridwar, Muzaffarnagar, Shamli, Yamunagar, Baghpat, Meerut and Baraut. It will also have Asia’s largest wildlife elevated corridor (12 km) for unrestricted movement of animals, according to the PMO release.
A 340-m tunnel near Dat Kaali temple, Dehradun, will also help reduce impact on wildlife, the government said.
Further, multiple animal passes are being built in the Ganeshpur-Dehradun section for avoiding animal-vehicle collisions. The economic corridor will also have arrangements for rainwater harvesting at intervals of 500m and over 400 water recharge points.
A greenfield alignment project from the Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor, connecting Halgoa, Saharanpur to Bhadrabad, Haridwar, will be constructed at a cost of over ₹2,000 crore. It will provide seamless connectivity and reduce travel time from Delhi to Haridwar as well.
The Haridwar Ring Road Project from Manoharpur to Kangri, will be built at a cost of over ₹1,600 crore, will give a respite to residents from traffic congestion in Haridwar city, especially during peak tourist season, and also improve connectivity with the Kumaon zone.