Himachal Pradesh PWD Minister Vikramaditya Singh meets Railway Board Chairman in Delhi

New Delhi [India], September 27 (ANI): Himachal Pradesh Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Vikramaditya Singh met Satish Kumar, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Railway Board, in New Delhi on Friday.

During the meeting, Singh apprised Kumar that construction of a flyover at the HP Vidhan Sabha junction and viaduct along the Victory Tunnel had stalled due to delays in approvals from Northern Railways. He urged Kumar to take prompt action to restart the work, emphasizing its significance in decongesting traffic in Shimla, which attracts a large number of tourists.

Singh also discussed the expansion of the railway network in the state, specifically the Bhanupali-Bilaspur railway line.

In response to the Minister’s request, the CEO directed the concerned authorities to start work immediately and resolved the reasons for the previous delays. Kumar also noted that the process for the Bhanupali-Bilaspur line was already underway and would continue as planned.

Expressing gratitude, Vikramaditya Singh thanked the Chairman and CEO for taking immediate action to resume work that had been stalled since April, which was impacting the progress of projects undertaken by the PWD department under the Smart City Project.

On Thursday, Vikramaditya Singh participated in the National Urban Convention organised by the Praja Foundation in New Delhi.

Speaking on the occasion, Vikramaditya Singh said that about ten per cent of the population in Himachal Pradesh resides in urban areas and the state government strives to transform them into vibrant and developed urban centres in the coming times.

He pointed out that Dharamsala and Shimla are emerging as smart cities.

Singh said that the state government took an initiative to implement Urban Platform for Delivery of Online Governance ( UPYOG ) under the National Urban Digital Mission (NUDM). The initiative aims to revolutionise the citizen experience of municipal public services by offering integrated end-to-end solutions through a comprehensive state-wide service delivery infrastructure. He said that this will provide a range of government services and information to citizens through a single digital platform for all 60 urban local bodies (One State One Portal) besides improving efficiency, transparency and accessibility of government services.