12 yrs on, tenders floated for Central University of Himachal Pradesh twin campuses

Tribune News Service

Lalit Mohan

Dharamsala, April 28

After nearly 12 years, the Central University of Himachal Pradesh (CUHP) will finally have its own campuses. Tenders have been floated for the construction of campuses at Dehra and Jadrangal (Dharamsala).

CUHP Vice-Chancellor Sat Prakash Bansal said the work on the campuses would start soon. The Central Public Works Department (CPWD) had invited the tenders for Rs 476 crore. The work on both campuses would be completed within 30 months from the date of the allotment of the tenders. The CPWD is the executing agency for both campuses.

Long wait to end

• CUHP was established in 2010 and started functioning from a temporary campus at Shahpur with headquarters at Dharamsala
• The varsity were to have two campuses at Dehra and Dharamsala
• The previous Congress government in 2012 proposed that the campus be built at Dharamsala
• The Centre rejected a site at Indrunag in Dharamsala, proposed by the Congress government
• The state government then proposed a site at Jadrangal in Dharamsala
• In 2019, forest clearance granted for the Dehra site
• In 2021, geological experts express reservation over land at Jadrangal
• In 2022, on the intervention of GSI, experts from Kolkata approved campus construction at Jadrangal

Recently, an MoU was also signed between the CPWD and the CUHP for the construction of the campuses.

The CUHP has been striving for the construction of its campuses since long. It has got sanctioned 81 hectares of forestland and 34 hectares of non-forestland for the campus construction at Dehra. The campus will also be constructed on 90 hectares at Jadrangal.

As per the MoU, the CPWD will also be responsible for maintaining the landscape and horticulture projects for one year after the completion of the buildings. It will also ensure the project quality and safety management by establishing quality control procedures and checklists for civil, electrical, mechanical, IT, electronics HVAC works.

Bansal said every effort had been made to ensure that the university gets thecampuses at the earliest. May 19 is the last date of submitting the tenders. The university would provide all facilities to the students in the new campuses. Efforts would be made to promote sports activities, he added.

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