Uttarakhand: Gairsain to be its summer capital

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has announced that his government will make Gairsain the summer capital of Uttarakhand. This historic announcement was made by the Chief Minister in the state assembly, soon after presenting the budget.

This means Uttarakhand will now get a permanent summer capital, two decades after it was carved out of Uttar Pradesh as a separate state. As per reports, locals have been demanding to have a capital at Gairsain for a long time, a town which is nestled in Garhwal, at around 280 km away from Dehradun. Chief Minister Rawat mentioned that this announcement is also dedicated to the struggle of everyone involved in the said struggle. With this landmark decision, Uttarakhand also becomes the second state after Jammu and Kashmir in the country to have two capitals. The Chief Minister, after making the announcement, said that there are many areas in which work needs to be done, and there will be a set timeline for which Gairsain, situated in Chamoli district of the state, would start functioning as the state capital. He further added that they will sit together, work out the plan and start making preparations in this regard.

Further, when questioned about how basic infrastructure issues would be addressed in the hill town, the Chief Minister acknowledged that the biggest concern in Bharairisain, which is situated around 14 km from Gairsain and houses the assembly building, is water crisis. He also added that he has spoken to engineers, and asked them to develop a lake near Bhararisain, which can help sort out the issue of water deficiency in Gairsain and the surrounding area.