New Delhi, Feb 8 (IANS): The central government said on Monday that it planned to construct 825 km all-weather roads in the hill state of Uttarakhand, out of which approval had been given for the construction of 671-km roads at a cost of around Rs 12,072 crore.

"Yes, the Ministry plans to construct 825-km all-weather road from Rishikesh to Janki Chati (Yamunotri), Gangotri, Gaurikund (Kedarnath), and Mana (Badrinath), including Tanakpur to Pithoragarh section of the Kailash-Mansarovar route in Uttarakhand," Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari told the Rajya Sabha.

He was responding to an unstarred questions by Narain Dass Gupta of the Aam Aadmi Party.

He said that the construction was initially targeted for completion by March 2020.

"However, the scheduled date of completion has been delayed mainly due to litigation in the National Green Tribunal and the Supreme Court by Citizens for Green Doon. The Supreme Court vide order dated August 8, 2019 constituted a high-powered committee under the chairmanship of Professor Ravi Chopra to look into environmental and related issues. The matter is still sub judice," he added.

The Minister was responding to another unstarred question about the estimated cost of the road projects and when the same were likely to be completed.