3 new townships proposed in Doon
By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 7 Jun: The Union Government has given in principle approval to establishing two new township projects in Uttarakhand. At the same time, the Pushkar Singh Dhami Government is seeking approval for more new township projects in the state and hopes to get a green signal in their respect as well.
A central team of the Union Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs will shortly visit Uttarakhand to inspect the proposed sites.
The two new township projects approved in the first phase by the Centre include one in Dehradun and one in Kashipur. The project given approval by the Centre in Dehradun is related to constructing an integrated township near Doiwala on an area of more than 3,000 hectares. The project approved for Kashipur is for an industrial township in an area of 748 hectares of land, which will be built on the Prag Farm property.
The State Housing Department had made a presentation on proposed townships in Uttarakhand before the Union Housing & Urban Affairs Ministry. The two approved projects will cost around Rs 1100 crores which amount is being sought from the Centre. Officials in the Housing Department state that the department is working on the plan to establish 8 new townships in the state. A Detailed Project Report for the two approved townships has already been submitted to the Union Housing Ministry. These proposals were personally pursued by Chief Minister Dhami during his recent visits to New Delhi.
The second township will be named Aero City near Doiwala on the Doon-Haridwar Highway. This city will be built as an Integrated Township. It will have 746.98 hectares of government land and 2333.81 hectares of private land. According to the information, soon after the presentation, the central team will reach Uttarakhand to inspect both the townships.
Planned Township projects:
A project for constructing an Integrated Township on Doon-Haridwar Highway near Doiwala on 3080 hectares is one of the two projects approved by the Centre initially. Of the total 3080 hectares required for the project, an area of 747 hectares is already owned by the government while the remaining 2333 hectares will be acquired from private owners. In Dehradun, a Cyber City on a total area of 1,672.94 hectares is also planned along the Dehradun-Paonta Sahib Highway near Chharba village. For this project, 1506 hectares of land will be acquired while the government already owns 166 hectares. The third township project planned in Dehradun will be called New Dehradun Twin City and it will be constructed in Arcadia Tea Estate Garden on an area of 720 hectares of land.
In addition, a Wellness Township is planned on an area of 50 hectares in Bamoth Village near Gauchar Air Strip in district Chamoli and all the land required will have to be acquired from the local villagers. In Ramnagar in district Nainital, a Tourism Township is planned on an area of 4365 hectares of which an area of 3872 hectares will be acquired from private owners while the government owns about 493 hectares of land for this project. In Haldwani (District Nainital), a New Haldwani Twin City is also planned in Gaulapar on an area of 2840 hectares of which 2662 hectares will be acquired from private owners while the government owns about 165 hectares for the project.
A Film-Entertainment City is planned in district Pithoragarh near Nainisaini Airport on an area of 77 hectares, while an Industrial Township is planned near Kichha (US Nagar) on an area of 378 hectares.
The housing department will provide the basic facilities and infrastructure in all these townships. These include construction of roads, sewerage and other necessary infrastructure required in modern townships. The master plans for these townships will be prepared with the help of the Town Planning Department.
Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Prem Chand Aggarwal has stated that the density of population is increasing in all the cities including Dehradun. In view of this, the government is working seriously on making new townships. Initially, 32 sites were proposed of which 10 were selected. Now, 8 townships are under serious consideration. He also indicated that teams of the Union Housing Ministry will shortly be inspecting the sites and, following this, the work is expected to begin soon.
