Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Monday inaugurated the reconstructed bridge over Malan river in Kotdwar district.
This bridge connects Kotdwar city to Sidkul and more than Rs 26 crore was spent on its reconstruction.
This bridge got damaged in the massive flood in the Malan river during the monsoon of 2023.
The bridge was reconstructed by removing 12 'piers' or foundations of the damaged structure using 'well foundation' technology.
Twelve slabs of the bridge were in good condition, so they were lifted and installed in place while one slab damaged in the flood was reconstructed. Using pre-fabricated slabs for the bridge saved Rs 1.14 crore per slab -- amounting to a total of Rs 13 crore.
Dhami, who attended the inauguration program through virtual medium, congratulated Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker and local MLA Ritu Khanduri Bhushan, who has been trying to rebuild the bridge for the last two years.
He also congratulated the engineers for using innovative technology for the first time in bridge construction, due to which the bridge was not only completed in a short period of one year but also saved Rs 13 crore.
CM Dhami expressed hope that this bridge will not only provide smooth traffic to the people of the area but will also accelerate the development of the area.
He said that with the guidance and cooperation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, our state is touching new dimensions of progress in every field including education, health, sports, road, drinking water, rail and air connectivity.
Dhami said that Uttarakhand has secured the first position in the country in terms of achieving Sustainable Development Goals.
He said that the state has given employment to more youth than the national average by reducing the unemployment rate by 4.4 per cent in a year.
The state government is committed to protecting the culture and demography of the state, under which strict action has been taken against people with hateful mentality like land jihad, love jihad and spit jihad, the CM said.
He added that the state government has implemented strict anti-conversion law, strict land law, uniform civil code and strict anti-copying law.
The Chief Minister said that in the last three and a half years, more than 23,000 youths have succeeded in getting government jobs, while in the last three years 200 people involved in corruption have been sent to jail.