'The Uttarakhand Mafia Has Gone Into Hiding'

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has inherited huge challen­ges—corruption, exodus from border villa­ges, under-development and more. In an interview with Bula Devi, he spells out the measures he has taken to overcome these challenges and put the state on the road to progress. Excerpts:

- Bula Devi

Road connectivity is a big issue. China has four-lane roads and a rail line up to the Uttarakhand border…

It is a coincidence that the Chaar Dham routes are on the China border. In fact, we are thankful to PM Narendra Modi for the all-weather routes. Besides, all villages with more than 250 residents have road connectivity now and we have ­shifted our focus to the smaller ones. Black topping of these roads will be done in five years as the earlier exp­eriment proved to be unsatisfactory and uneconomical. We have also passed tenders for a rail line to Karnaprayag. Survey work for a rail line to Badrinath is under way. These road and rail lines can be used by locals, tourists and the security forces. Similarly, an international airport is being developed in Dehradun. We are strengthening and modernising the smaller airports such as Gouchar in Chamoli district, Chinalisaur in Uttar­kashi and Nainisaini in Pithoragarh.

Time and again you have talked about zero tolerance towards corruption. Has the policy been a success?

The mafia has definitely gone into hiding out of fear, which surely goes to our credit. We are targeting the big institutionalised mafia groups. We have crea­ted a Permanent Investigation Commission, on the pattern of the CBI, to look into corruption cases. Underhand dealings and greasing of palms for transfers and postings have stopped. Illegal mining was rampant in the state, but now all district magistrates have been asked to ensure there is no illegal mining.

What about the exodus from the border areas that has been plaguing the state? Is there any plan to improve livelihood options in the villages to stop this?