Declare Gairsen as Summer Capital
By Brig KG Behl (Retd)
When a separate Uttarakhand State was formed, it was unanimously agreed by all concerned that Gairsen was ideally suited to become the capital of Uttarakhand, as it was centrally located between Garhwal and Kumaon regions.
Since it did not have proper infrastructure for setting up the capital, Dehradun was adopted as a provisional capital, as it had the maximum facilities and paraphernalia, in comparison to other proposed sites that came up for consideration. This was because a capital was an immediate requirement. The people who wanted Dehradun to be retained as permanent capital of the State raised many points against Gairsen, especially about its connectivity with other parts of the country. It is without Rail, Air and even road connections, especially during the rainy season due to the terrain, which is prone to earth erosion and landslides due to soft mountains around. Moreover, it falls in a highly seismic zone. No doubt, the above shortcomings exist, but keeping in mind the sentiments of the people and indirect promises made by various parties, it could be declared the Summer Capital for the time being and work could be started to provide necessary paraphernalia to that effect.
In all the hilly states that are big and well spread, there are two capitals – Winter and Summer e.g. Himachal Pradesh, J&K, etc. So it is in the fitness of things that the Government of Uttarakhand should declare Gairsen as the summer capital of the State. It will be in consonance with the sentiments of the people and would reduce pressure and load of traffic, and help in easing the requirement of office and residential accommodation in Dehradun.
For a Summer Capital, there has to be a place for holding the session of the State Assembly and accommodation for the MLAs, the Governor and the Chief Minister. Similarly, accommodation is needed for offices and residence of the Chief Secretary, other secretaries, their staff and allied personnel. There has to be a Sports Stadium of International standard where various games could be held. Around this stadium, they can develop colonies with parks and other facilities, including medical facilities/ nursing nomes and markets to cater to each of the colonies independently. Behind these colonies can be built government offices, Administrative Blocks, etc., from where it would be convenient for workers to approach. Behind these offices, there ought to be place to construct private accommodation and bungalows for senior officials.
On the other side of the Stadium would be the main city of Gairsen, where the main markets have to be developed. Schools, Colleges and other educational paraphernalia have to be established. Hotels and other eating joints need to be developed here. It will also house a big government hospital and other private nursing homes. It can have cultural centres, picnic spots and other places to attract foreign tourists. Since it is centrally located as far as the other upper hill districts are concerned, it would give a fillip to the industrial development of the State.
Improved communications would certainly help in this direction.
As is well known, the first Chief Minister of the state, Nityanand Swami, appointed a one man Commission under Justice V Dikshit to submit its report within a specified time about the place suitable to become the permanent Capital of the State. The Commission wanted an extension but was wound up when BS Koshiyari became the Chief Minister. But it was revived again when ND Tewari came to power. It got many extensions but could not submit even an interim report. When Maj General BC Khanduri took over as CM, he extended its tenure but on the condition that the report would be submitted in time and it was finally submitted. Although the report has been submitted to the Government of Uttarakhand, it has not been made public, so far. It probably contains some recommendation that is against the policy of the present government. Anyway, it has to be made public some day, whether or not the government agrees to implement it. The earlier a decision is taken, the better for the State as it will stop unnecessary speculation and pressure on the question of the new state capital.
It is learnt that Rs100 crores have been earmarked for the development of the new capital. If so, it is all the more important that the location of the permanent sState capital is announced at the earliest, so that work may start within this financial year. The greatest advantage of having two capitals would be that the summer capital can be well planned and the pressure and load on Dehradun would get reduced and the present haphazard growth of the town would stop, which is turning it into a congested concrete city, destroying the greenery for which it is known.
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