The Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation Nitin Gadkari inaugurated and laid foundation stone for projects worth Rs 5,894 crore at Chandi Ghat in Haridwar yesterday.The projects included six newly constructed sewage treatment plants (STPs) along with 18 pumping stations across the state of Uttarakhand under National Mission for Clean Ganga. The venue for the inauguration was Chandi Ghat. This ghat in Uttarakhand is part of 36 others which have been completed.The STPs and Ghats are part of 48 projects in the field of sewerage management, Ghats and Crematoria works, River front development works, Afforestation, Bio-remediation, Rural sanitation and River surface cleaning works at the cost of Rs. 1354.33 Cr. which are at different stages of implementation.The Union Minister laid the foundation stone for seven NH projects worth Rs 5555 Crore. These included work for preparing Detailed Project Report for construction of ring road in Haridwar, balance work of Haridwar-Dehradun National Highway among others in the hill state.Speaking on the occasion Mr Gadkari also announced river rejuvenation plans for Banganga and Sonali rivers. He inaugurated Iqbalpur Canal works which will serve 33,000 hectare of farmlands.While releasing the books ‘The Making of Chandi Ghat’ and ‘Ghats in Uttarakhand’ he said that the 700 meter long Chandi Ghat can accommodate 10000 people simultaneously. He further said that the projects for constructing ring roads in Dehradun and Haldwani were under consideration.He exhorted the state government to convert waste into wealth and use bio-fuels in transportation. The Minister said that once completed the Char Dham Highway Development Project will mean all weather connectivity from Rishikesh to Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri. This project covers a total route length of 900 KM covering the state of Uttarakhand with the estimated cost of about 12,000 crores.