Central varsity to come up in Dharamsala as proposed: HP Govt

DHARAMSALA, Jan 19: Rejecting claims of hitch in the development of the Central University (CU) in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh government today said that the varsity will be established as proposed.

“The Central university was allotted by Smt Sonia Gandhi for Dharamsala in 2007, and it shall be developed only in Dharamsala,” state Urban Development minister Sudhir Sharma said.

There is no hitch regarding land availability here and the proposed university will be established in Dharamsala, Sharma said, adding if it is required, a wing can be given to Dehra town in Kangra district.

“Earlier the land available in Dharamsala was told to be 60 acre, but now after a reece by the present government, around 200 acre of government land is said to be available here,” he said.

Sharma said that the land previously alloted for CU in Dehra town has allegedly been grabbed by the land mafia and a probe has been ordered in this matter.

Dismissing the idea of setting university campus for each town, he said it is technically not feasible to have separate university campus for two places.

The Minister said that in order to reduce the mounting pressure of construction in Dharamsala town, Congress-led state government has decided in principle to set up a new satellite town near Chaitru with all modern facilities and civic amenities.

The previous BJP-led government had changed the location of university from Dharamsala to Dehra town. (PTI)