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Uttaranchal Capital issue hots up again

By Our Staff Correspondent

DEHRA DUN JUNE 1. The dead issue of a permanent Capital for Uttaranchal has been revived. This time by Harish Rawat, State president of the Congress.

Describing Dehra Dun, the temporary capital of the hill State, as too far away from the hills, Mr. Rawat has preferred carving out of a special Capital district from parts of Garhwal and Kumaon areas. The capital can be christened as `Garhkumaon' and located in the middle of the State so that people could easily go there for getting works done. Mr. Rawat's suggestion is close to that of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal which had declared Gairsen as the capital during the Uttarakhand agitation. Gairsen was, however, rejected by the centre as it did not have any infrastructure to be the seat of the government of the new State.

Dehra Dun was selected as the interim capital as it had all the modern amenities and road, rail and air links with Delhi.

Although the earlier BJP and now Congress governments are going ahead with plans to create buildings and other infrastructures in Dehra Dun, Mr. Rawat's sudden interest in having a permanent capital at a place equidistant from areas of Garhwal and Kumaon is seen as a stunt to woo voters before the coming general elections.

Along with this has come the demand for the formation of a Roorkee district out of Hardwar. Supported by the local Congress, BJP and Muslim leaders, this demand is likely to pick up over the next few months. Separate districthood for Roorkee was one of the major planks of all parties during the Assembly polls.

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