CM Dhami meets Ashwini Vaishnav, seeks operation of Jan Shatabdi rail service between Tanakpur-Dehradun

On the request of Dhami, the Union Minister approved 1,206 mobile towers of BSNL in Uttarakhand to strengthen the mobile network in the state. The cost of each mobile tower will be Rs 1 crore.

During his meeting with the Railway Minister, the Chief Minister also requested to start a Jan Shatabdi rail service between Tanakpur-Dehradun. The Chief Minister said that at present, there is only one train service running between Dehradun-Kathgodam to connect Kumaon and Garhwal. People move from Tanakpur because of the Nepal border and so, to further strengthen the Kumaon-Garhwal connectivity, it is necessary to operate a Jan Shatabdi rail on the Tanakpur-Dehradun route in the public interest.

The Chief Minister also asked for the Tanakpur-Bageshwar railway line as a broad gauge instead of a narrow gauge and for making the Haridwar-Dehradun rail line a double lane.

Dhami asked for many railway lines in the state like the Rishikesh-Uttarkashi rail line and the Kichha-Khatima rail line and urged the Minister for the modernization of the Harrawala railway station. The Railway Minister has agreed to all the demands.

The Chief Minister also requested to make necessary arrangements to complete the journey in 05-06 hours by reducing the travel time of Purnagiri Jan Shatabdi which runs between Tanakpur and Delhi.

In connection with the Roodki-Deobband rail project, he also requested to release the state government from paying the remaining due amount of 99.01 crores relative to the 50 per cent contribution while finalizing the contribution amount of 296.67 crores paid so far by the state government.

Pushkar Singh Dhami is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party and serves as the 10th and the current Chief Minister of Uttarakhand. He was elected as MLA in Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha from Khatima in 2012 and 2017. He was appointed Chief Minister for the first time in 2021. (ANI)