This Article is From Feb 25, 2014

Rs 125 crore additional fund for flood-hit districts in Uttarakhand

Dehradun: Asking officials to immediately start work on projects cleared by Project Implementation Units in the calamity-hit areas, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat said an additional sum of Rs 125 crore will be given to districts to speed up reconstruction work.

The Chief Minister issued the directives while reviewing the progress of PIUs in consultation with District Magistrates via video-conferencing yesterday, an official release here said.

He asked secretaries to visit areas where such projects are under way and coordinate with the DMs to get a firsthand knowledge of their progress.

Stressing on linking up the projects with schemes like MNREGA, Mr Rawat asked the DMs to give priority to projects which have the potential to create maximum number of job opportunities.

Committees headed by SDMs under PIUs are competent to recommend implementation of work worth up to Rs 1 crore.

The chief minister asked the DMs to do regular monitoring of the progress of projects under way in affected areas and warned of stern action in case of any negligence.

He also asked the chief secretary and the additional chief secretary to seek a report every three days from DMs through video conferencing on development work.

101 development projects have been cleared by PIUs in the worst-hit Rudraprayag district out of which work has begun on 56 with Rs 5 crore made available for their implementation.

67 projects worth Rs five crore have been cleared by PIUs in Chamoli district, 350 projects worth Rs five crore have been proposed by PIUs in Uttarkashi out of which work is in progress on 115, the officials informed the CM.

Work has started on 100 out of a total of 228 projects worth Rs nine crore in Pithoragarh. Work is in progress on 35 out of 64 projects worth Rs five crore in Bageshwar district.

Work will soon begin on 87 PIU cleared projects in Tehri district while work on 44 out of a total of 49 projects worth Rs five crore in Haridwar district has also begun, the CM was told.

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