New townships to decongest Shimla
Tribune News Service

Shimla, April 19
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said today the government proposed to
impose a complete ban on construction in old Shimla and develop new
townships in peripheral areas to save the "Queen of Hills" from
further degeneration. The possibility of developing a new hill
station would also be explored.

Talking to mediapersons after inaugurating a call centre here, he
said all hill stations in the state were developed during British
rule and the basic amenities there were already stretched to the
limit. There was urged need to disperse development to the
periphery.

The capital was already bursting at the seams and the government was
already working on a plan to decongest it. Initially, construction
would be banned in the old Shimla areas. Once the third phase of New
Shimla was completed, no more construction would be allowed in the
area.

He said satellite townships would be developed around the existing
ones like Dharamsala, Chamba, Una, Kulu, Solan and Nahan. They would
be self-contained with all amenities and capable of catering to the
requirements of inhabitants for a long time to come. Reputed
architects would be requisitioned to plan the new townships.

Referring to the water problem in Shimla, he said there was no
shortage. The municipal corporation had not rationed water supply,
it had only rationalised the distribution to ensure equitable
distribution. Leakages in the distribution system were being plugged
to make more water available to the people.

A Rs 400-crore scheme to bring water from the Pabbar river was being
planned which would solve the water problem of Shimla for the next
100 years. In the meantime, another scheme was being implemented to
augment the supply which would be completed within a year.