Regulated, planned urban growth needed

The Tribune Interview: Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Chief Minister

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Having set the agenda for making Himachal a Green State by March 2026, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu is now focusing on improving road and air connectivity, civic amenities, health and educational infrastructure to ensure quality life for every citizen of the state.

In an interview with Pratibha Chauhan he outlined the road map for making Himachal a world-class tourism destination and ensuring that quality services are made available to each and every citizen at his doorstep, be it in the remotest corner of the state. Notwithstanding the resource crunch, compounded further by almost Rs 12,000 crore losses in the last monsoons, he is keen to adopt the latest technology in every sector. Excerpts:

Today most tourist destinations like Shimla, Dharamsala, Manali and Kasauli have become overcrowded towns with civic amenities being under tremendous strain. How do you intend tackling this?

That is absolutely true and we have already made a beginning in this direction by setting a target of making Himachal a Green State by March 31, 2026 by switching over to e-vehicles and setting up six green corridors. In Shimla Rs 100 crore allocation has been made for laying underground cables and Rs 10 crore for widening of the bottlenecks on the Circular Road. No new township has come up in Himachal in the last 75 years and we intend setting up Jathia Devi, a mountain township to decongest Shimla.

Another step to address the problem of traffic congestion in most towns will be ensuring that all four lanes, highways should be along the outskirts of the town by way of the by-pass. This will ensure that the suburbs develop and the pressure in the main town gets eased out.

We want to ensure quality in water and power supply and food items as this is a must for healthy living, which should be the right of every citizen.

During the last monsoons, Himachal witnessed massive destruction? What steps are being envisaged to minimise damage and losses in such natural disasters?

We will ensure that there is regulated and planned urban growth. The outskirts of major towns will be developed so that some of the government offices can be moved to these areas and can be located in close vicinity rather than being scattered all over.

CM speak

We have issued orders that no construction would be allowed 5 to 7 metres along nullahs and khuds to minimise damage. Traditional hill architecture would be adopted in most places. — Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, CM

We have issued orders that no construction would be allowed 5 to 7 metres along nullahs and khuds or other water bodies to minimise damage. There will be proper drainage system and the traditional hill architecture would be adopted in most places as it gels with the local topography and is more resilient.

Most tourist destinations in the state are plagued with water shortage, especially during the summers. What solutions are you exploring?

This remains a priority area and will be undertaken in a phased manner. In Shimla water supply will be made 24X7 by December 2024 as the Satluj water supply scheme will be made operational. Similar initiatives will be taken in all the towns.

More importantly, our endeavour is not just providing adequate water but ensuring quality water which is treated with modern technology like UV rays and not the old method of using chlorine.

Even though the tourism sector remains a priority area, lack of infrastructure like good roads and air connectivity prove to be a dampener. What steps are being taken to improve connectivity to various destinations?

Not enough attention has been paid towards infrastructure development which is vital for tourism promotion. We have made an allocation of Rs 1000 crore for land acquisition for expansion of Gaggal airport in Kangra to make it an international airport where bigger aircrafts can land. The Airport Authority of India (AAI) will construct the airport for which we will provide land. Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraje Scindia has assured all help in this regard.

Also we want to encourage helitaxi services within the state and to outside locations. An allocation of Rs 13 crore each has been made for construction of helipads at Rakkad in Kangra, Reckong Peo, Chamba and Palampur. The helipad at Dhalli near Shimla will also be made operational shortly.

The health institutions across the State invariably face shortage of doctors, especially specialist. How will you rope in doctors to serve in rural areas, having a huge vacancy?

It is to address this problem that our government has launched the Adarsh Swasthya Sansthan scheme where a model hospital having at least six specialists in the core faculties will be set up in each of the 68 assembly segments. Now the situation is far improved and there are 1,200 doctors, waiting to be appointed. Gradually things will improve right to the village level along with modern facilities like robotic surgery and advanced treatment for cancer as Himachal has a prevalence rate of 2.2 as compared to the national figure of 0.6.