Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], February 17 (ANI): The Uttarakhand Chief Minister on Tuesday stated that efforts are being made to provide parking facilities in major cities, pilgrimage sites, and tourist centres of Uttarakhand to reduce traffic congestion, under the leadership of the Housing Department.

As part of this initiative, parking facilities will soon be available at 11 locations across the state, accommodating 1,082 vehicles.

The Chief Minister has directed the Housing Department to provide parking facilities on a war footing in major cities, pilgrimage destinations, and tourist hubs through development authorities.

Following this, proposals were received for parking facilities at 195 locations through various development authorities, according to an official statement from the Chief Minister's office. These proposals included options ranging from surface parking to multi-level parking and tunnel parking. Based on these proposals, the Housing Department has approved DPRs for parking facilities at 114 locations, and the budget for these has already been released.

In the first phase, parking facilities for a total of 3,244 vehicles have already been made available at 54 locations, and parking services have started at these sites. In the second phase, construction of parking facilities at 11 additional locations is about 80 per cent complete.

The CMO further stated that the Housing Department aims to complete construction at these sites within the current financial year, which will provide parking space for 1,082 vehicles. Additionally, development authorities are constructing parking facilities at 11 more locations using their own resources, which will create parking space for 359 vehicles.

Housing Secretary R Rajesh Kumar has instructed all development authorities to expedite parking construction work. He stated that parking facilities at all identified locations should be made operational before the upcoming travel season. He also directed that proper arrangements for toilets, lighting, and cleanliness be ensured at parking sites, and that construction quality standards must be strictly followed.

The Chief Minister stated that crores of people visit Uttarakhand every year for pilgrimage and tourism. With improved road connectivity, more people are now travelling by private vehicles, which naturally leads to traffic congestion.

Keeping this in mind, work has been underway over the past four years to create parking facilities for approximately six thousand vehicles at various locations, some of which have already been completed. This will significantly help in reducing traffic congestion, the CMO emphasised. (ANI)