Minister: Dharamsala to be spiritual, adventure hub

Tribune News Service

Shimla, November 23

Urban Development and Town and Country Planning Minister Sudhir Sharma today said that Dharamsala was an international tourist destination and all efforts would be made to transform this hill station, not only into Smart City but also as a progressive and inclusive city of India.

He presided over a project appraisal meeting on Smart City, Dharamsala held at New Delhi today. A team of experts of The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI) and officers of State Urban Development participated in the meeting. He said efforts would be made to project the city as a cultural, spiritual and adventure hub for tourists.

Sharma stressed the need for giving priority on components such as integrated and inclusive planning, sustainable mobility, water management and energy systems while finalizing the project proposal. He also stressed on protecting environment with the participation of local people in planning and implementation of the project.

“There is need to develop new areas such as Indru Nag Hill near Dharamsala as an International Conventional Centre to decongest the city and also to generate new economic activities,” he remarked.

He also pointed out that trekking route to Triund should also be included in the proposal and suggested that there was a need to develop separate material transport system and precaution must be taken on disaster management aspect as the area falls under earthquake-prone zone.

He informed that a meeting of a high level steering committee would be held to finalise the project proposal. Director, Town and Country Planning Sandeep Kumar and Executive Officer, Municipal Corporation, Dharamsala Sanjeev Saini were present. A detail presentation was given by the team of experts of TERI, who have been assigned the work to prepare the proposal for Dharamsala Smart City.