Saturday, September 01, 2007

Committee for roads in Sikkim


Gangtok, Aug. 31: The Sikkim government has formed a committee for planning and coordinating the construction of roads in the state, keeping in mind a large number of requests from central and state agencies.
According to a release issued by the information and public relations department, the committee will determine and record details of all existing roads in the state, examine the necessity and feasibility of new roads proposed for construction by different agencies, synchronise requirement so that there is optimum utilisation of resources and minimal disturbance to ecology. It will also make certain that all roads approved for construction are of good quality.
The committee will be chaired by the principal chief engineer-cum-secretary of the roads and bridges department, Govind P. Sharma. It will comprise members from five other state departments including forests, land revenue, irrigation, mines and geology besides representatives of agencies like the army, BRO and ITBP. The superintending engineer (planning) of the roads and bridges department will officiate as the secretary of the committee.
According to government sources, the requests had been made by Border Roads Organisation (BRO), army, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), SSB, the Sikkim roads and bridges department, the rural management and development department, the urban development and housing department and by independent power producers.