Pending projects in Kangra a challenge for govt

Lalit Mohan

Advertisement

Dharamsala, December 25

Several pending infrastructure development projects in Kangra, the biggest district of the state, are going to pose a challenge to the new Congress government. The expansion of the Gaggal airport and the four-laning of the Pathankot-Mandi national highway are two major infrastructure development projects in the district that can only be implemented with the support of the Union Government.

Airport expansion, CUHP campus, etc

• The expansion of the Gaggal airport, the busiest airport of the state, has been lingering for a decade
• Four-laning of the Pathankot-Mandi national highway is another major project
• Construction of CUHP campus started but work on Dharamsala campus awaits Forest Ministry’s nod
• Not much headway has been made in the ambitious Dharamsala Smart City project for the past five years

The expansion of the Gaggal airport, the busiest airport of the state receiving five flights in a day, has been lingering for about a decade. During the stint of the previous BJP government, the Finance Commission had sanctioned Rs 400 crore for the expansion of the airport. However, even the work for acquisition of land for its expansion has not started yet. The work for making a detailed project report for the expansion of the airport was recently assigned to a Pune-based institute.

The expansion of the airport is vital for the promotion of tourism in the region. Due to its shorter airstrip, only smaller planes can land here. Since only about 70-seater planes can land here, airfares from here are among the highest in the country.

Single way air trip from Delhi to Dharamsala in peak tourist season costs up to Rs 21,000. With 10 out of 40 Congress MLAs in the new Congress government coming from Kangra, there is expectation that work for expansion of the Gaggal airport will gather pace. However, the state would have to depend on Central grant for implementing the project.

The work for four-laning of the Pathankot-Mandi national highway has been going on. Presently, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has constructed the stretch of road from Pathankot to Nurpur. While in the opposition, the Congress used to support the demand of oustees of the four-lane project for increasing compensation of the land acquired. Now the government would be under pressure to support the demand.

The early construction of Central University of Himachal Pradesh (CUHP) campus in Dharamsala is another important issue. Though the construction of campus has started in Dehra, the work for construction of campus at Dharamsala was awaiting nod from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests.

The Dharamsala Smart City project has been lingering for the past five years. Apart from the initial grant of Rs 183 crore, no money has been received from the Union government for the project. The state government had contributed about Rs 20 crore for the project. The ambitious project that was started during the stint of the previous Congress government in 2015 would require liberal grants from the Central government for its successful execution.