Public rally to demand “No elevated road” in Doon

Public rally to demand “No elevated road” in Doon

Dehradun, Sept 21

A large number of took out a protest rally against the proposed elevated road project in Dehradun city.  Organized under the banner of  ‘Doon Samagra Vikas Abhiyan’, public organizations, youth organizations, women’s organizations, environmental bodies and members of opposition parties from Dehradun and the state who took part in the rally alleged that the proposed project would destroy the Rispana and Bindal rivers, render tens of thousands homeless, increase heat, lead to drinking water problems, and pollution in the city, severely harming the environment.

The speaker reminded that disaster, a week ago on September 15 in Dehradun district which claimed  dozens of lives and damaged bridges and roads has clearly indicated that the proposed  would be detrimental for city. They lamented that the state government which had yet to do a survey of the damage done to the  public and property during the September 15 disaster  has been sending teams every ten days to survey the elevated road.

Sadly, the state government has allocated ₹925 crore for this project in the supplementary budget, which was considered as a betrayal of the people of the entire state by the concerned residents. At the “No elevated road!” rally, participants demanded people-friendly development.

The rally started from the gate of Gandhi Park and headed towards the Secretariat via Darshan Lal Chowk, but the police stopped it at Landsdowne Chowk, which was met with strong protests. The police then opened the barrier and allowed the rally to proceed up to Kanak Chowk. The protesters stated that this rally was merely a prelude and the movement would be expanded and strengthened until this ‘destructive and illegal’ project was cancelled.

The protesters demanded that the proposed project be cancelled, a survey of the disaster-affected areas be conducted immediately, and all affected people be provided with relief and compensation; the Rispana and Bindal rivers be revived; at least 500 new buses be introduced in the city; bus tickets be made free for women, students, and senior citizens; affordable housing be built by implementing the Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme; transportation to private schools and malls be made mandatory; signals and intersections be improved; and other steps be taken to alleviate traffic problems and facilitate green, sustainable development in and around Dehradun.

Senior environmentalist and Uttarakhand Insaniyat Manch member Dr. Ravi Chopra, MAD president Abhijay Negi, High Court environmentalist lawyer Snigdha Tiwari, Shankar Gopal of Chetna Andolan, Himanshu Arora of Citizens for Green Doon, Communist Party of India national council member Samar Bhandari, Samajwadi Party national secretary Dr. SN Sachan, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) state secretary Indresh Maikhuri, and retired PWD engineer Rakesh Kapoor addressed the rally. The program was coordinated by Kamala Pant of Uttarakhand Mahila Manch. Hundreds of representatives from MAD, Chetna Andolan, Citizens for Green Doon, Uttarakhand Mahila Manch, Uttarakhand Insaniyat Manch, and other organizations and concerned citizens were present. Senior Congress leaders Amarjeet Singh, Praveen Tyagi, and Sanjay Sharma also came out in support.