Uttarakhand

• 29 Jul 2022

Uttarakhand will become the First State in the Country to Start Tunnel Parking

Why In News?

• On July 28, 2022, P.C. Dumka, Joint Chief Administrator, Uttarakhand Housing and Urban Development Authority informed that the state government is starting tunnel parking to overcome the problem of parking in the hills.

Key Points

• The state government believes that tunnel parking is not yet anywhere in the country. Uttarakhand will be the first state in the country to conduct such an experiment. This will definitely solve the big problem of parking.
• PC Dumka said that the work on the construction of the tunnel is still in the initial stages. When their DPRs are made, where the kind of approvals that are required will be completed. The tunnel sites that have been marked so far are such that the car will be parked in the tunnel from one side of the road and out on the road on the other side.
• A total of 180 parking spots have been identified across the state, out of which 12 tunnel parking places have been identified in the first phase in Tehri and Pauri districts.
• Apart from NHIDCL, the Cabinet has made THDC, UJVNL and RVNL the functional agencies for construction of tunnel parking.
• RVNL is already working on Rishikesh-Karanprayag railway line in the mountain. RVNL has also constructed several major tunnels. At the same time, UJVNL and THDC have constructed tunnels for hydro power projects.
• The state government may also face several challenges in building tunnel parking. The first of these is the challenge of environmental clearance. The work can start only after permission from the Union Ministry of Forest Environment. Due to similar permission, many hydro power projects are stuck in the state.
• On the other hand, debris emitted during the construction of these tunnels can also emerge as a big challenge. However, the government argues that tunnels will be constructed following all the rules.
• The same environmentalists believe that tunnel parking will prove to be the script of the great destruction of the mountain. If 558 dams are built in the state, then about 1,500 km. Tunnels will be built. Millions of people will come to the tunnel. Wherever tunnels have been constructed due to the railway line, there have been cracks in the villages above.

Medical Device Park in Haridwar

Why In News?

• On July 28, 2022, Secretary, Industries Department of Uttarakhand, Dr. Pankaj Kumar Pandey informed that the Central Government has rejected the proposal sent by Uttarakhand for setting up the state's first medical device park in BHEL industrial area of Haridwar.

Key Points

• It is noteworthy that from the time of Trivendra Singh Rawat government, the exercise of setting up a medical device park in Haridwar BHEL industrial area had started. Under the Medical Device Park scheme of the Central Government, the State Industrial Development Corporation (SIDCUL) had selected 100 acres of land and sent the detailed project report to the Central Government.
• The central government had sought proposals from the states to build medical device parks in the state, but in the first phase, four medical device parks are to be set up. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala have been found suitable by the Centre to set up medical device parks, while the proposal of other states, including Uttarakhand, has been rejected as inappropriate.
• Under the Medical Device Park Scheme of the Central Government, the budget is given by the Centre for developing the park.
• Secretary Dr. Pankaj Kumar Pandey said that the land selected for the Medical Device Park will now be developed for setting up other industries.
• Pharmaceutical industries manufacturing surgical and medical equipment were to be established in the proposed Medical Device Park, where they were to be provided with all facilities.
• It is worth mentioning that Uttarakhand is the hub of pharma industry. More than three hundred pharmaceutical companies are manufacturing medicines in Dehradun, Haridwar. Medicines are also being exported from the state.