Centre opposes land proposed for Dharamsala CUHP campus

Tribune News Service

Lalit Mohan

Dharamsala, February 18

The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests at a meeting held in New Delhi yesterday raised serious objections over the land proposed for a campus of the Central University of Himachal Pradesh (CUHP) in Jadrangal area of the Dharamsala assembly constituency.

Site lies in seismic zone 5

• The site proposed for the university campus at Jadrangal falls in seismic zone 5 and is an active sliding zone.
• Also, the site is a reserved forestland and if it is used for campus construction, the state government will have to give 10 times more land for afforestation.

Timeline

• In 2010, the CUHP started functioning from a temporary campus at Shahpur with headquarters at Dharamsala
• The Virbhadra govt had proposed land at Indrunag for the campus, which was rejected by an HRD Ministry team
• The state then proposed a site at Jadrangal in Dharamsala
• In 2019, the previous BJP government gave forest clearance for the proposed land for the Dehra campus
• In 2021, geological experts expressed reservation over Jadrangal land for campus
• In 2022, the Jadrangal land was cleared and the work on the Dehra campus started

Highly placed sources said that the Union Environment Ministry raised objections that the site proposed for the university campus at Jadrangal falls in seismic zone 5 and is an active sliding zone. Also, the site was a reserved forestland and if it was used for campus construction, the state government would have to give 10 times more land for afforestation.

The previous BJP government had offered land at Jadrangal for the construction of the university campus. The foundation stone of the two campuses was laid at Jadrangal and Dehra during the previous BJP government in 2019. While about 200 hectares in Dehra were transferred in the name of the CUHP, the land proposed for the Dharamsala campus was awaiting approval from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests. The construction of the Dehra campus began last year.

The sources said that now the state government had options to either remove objections raised by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests or propose a new land for the university campus in Dharamsala. The objections had virtually nullified the efforts of the CUHP and the district administration to get clearance for raising structures on the Jadrangal land.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that he would study the objections over the Jadrangal land and then decide the course of action.

Kangra DC Nipun Jindal said he would also study the objections and file a report to the state government. Vice Chancellor of the CUHP Sat Prakash Bansal refused to comment on the matter.

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