Arpa River is pride of Ch’garh, lifeline of the state: CM

Central Chronicle News
Raipur, May 16: “Not Just Bilaspur, River Arpa is the pride of entire Chhattisgarh. This river is an inseparable part our cultural identity. The first word of our state song is also dedicated to River Arpa. Numerous efforts and initiatives have been taken by the State Government time and again to revive River Arpa, and such measures would be taken in future as well, said Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel while addressing the virtual programme for foundation laying of Arpa Development and Riverbank Augmentation work in Bilaspur, from his residence office. Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel virtually laid foundation of this project worth Rs 93 crore 70 lakh today. The foundation laying programme was presided over by Home Minister Tamradhwaj Sahu. Urban Administration and Development Department Minister Dr Shivkumar Daharia joined the programme as special guest.
Chief Minister further said that we have emotional connection with River Arpa. Various movements were conducted and ‘Padyatra’ were done to revive this sacred river. Chief Minister said that he himself and Vidhan Sabha speaker Dr Charandas Mahant had also participated in these Padyatras for revival of River Arpa. Foundation laying of this project is the beginning of long-awaited development and revival of Arpa river in Bilaspur.
Chief Minister said that under this project, 1.80 km long ultramodern four-lane road will be constructed from Indira Bridge to Shanichari Rapta on both the shores of the river. This would help in smooth and systematic traffic movement. This four-lane road becomes an alternate route for people of the city to move from Nehru Chowk to Gol Bazar-Sadar Bazar and Shanichari Bazar, and people of Sarkanda area would also get an alternate route to reach these places.
Baghel said that today the entire country is dealing with the COVID crisis. In the second wave, Chhattisgarh has also experienced serious challenges. Together we all have managed to control COVID infection spread to a great extent. In April, the infection rate had reached 30 percent in Chhattisgarh, which has now come down to only 11 percent.
Vaccination work is being done rapidly in the entire state. Even after vaccination, we should not forget to take the precautions such as masks and social distancing. We have also faced economic challenges during this crisis, but the state government has not compromised with the plans to improve lives of the people. Many construction works, including the new Raj Bhavan and the new CM House, have been stalled in Nava Raipur for now.
The programme was also addressed by Home Minister Tamradhwaj Sahu also. Presiding over the program, Home Minister Tamradhwaj Sahu said that Chief Minister Baghel has given many gifts to Bilaspur. Bilaspur airport has been established and named after Bilasa Devi Kentwin. Despite the challenges of COVID crisis, public interest schemes are being successfully operated. He expressed hope that the works under this project would be completed in a time-bound manner without any compromise in the quality.
Urban Administration Minister Dr. Shiv Kumar Daharia said that the work of two barrages at Shivghat and Pachri Ghat has been started for conservation of Arpa river.

# Under this project worth Rs 93.70 crore, 1.80 km of four-lane road to be built on both sides of Arpa river from Indira Setu to Shanichary Rapata
# Alternate route so created would reduce the Traffic pressure in the city
# Frozen silt in Arpa river to be removed under this project
# To prevent contamination of water in Arpa River, a peripheral drain will be built on both sides of the road: the dirty water of the city will be cleaned, treated and released into the river