U'khand: Cabinet waives map fee for construction of Shiv Udyan at Kedarnath

The Uttarakhand cabinet on Wednesday approved several proposals including waiving the map fee for the construction of a Shiv Udyan and Chintan Sthals in Kedarnath and the development of new Chakrata township in Dehradun district.

The state cabinet, which met here under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, also agreed to transfer 26.08 hectares of forest land adjacent to the Haldwani Cricket Stadium to the Uttarakhand High Court.

After the meeting, Chief Secretary Sukhbir Singh Sandhu said the cabinet decided to waive off the approval fee for the map of Shiv Udyan and Chintan Sthals to be constructed under the master plan in Kedarnath Dham.

He said it is proposed to construct Shiv Udyan and Chintan Sthals in Kedarnath by the Union Ministry of Culture, due to which the fee charged by the Kedarnath Development Authority for approval of related maps has been waived off.

In another decision, approval was given to declare the new Chakrata township from Purodi-Nagthat-Lakhwad up to the Yamuna river as a development area in Dehradun district.

The cabinet took this decision in view of Dhami's announcement to develop the new Chakrata township in November 2021 and release Rs 2 crore for it.

Sandhu said for the purpose of economic and social development, growth in sports and adventure activities and promotion of tourism, the area from Purodi-Nagthat-Lakhwad to Yamuna river was declared as development area of Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority.

A total of 40 villages in the area have been identified for the new Chakrata township, while the sub-collector of Tehsil Chakrata has been made the ex-officio joint secretary of the development area.

The cabinet also changed the tenure of the State Election Commissioner to six years or attaining 68 years of age, instead of five years or attaining sixty-five years of age.

In connection with the shifting of the Uttarakhand High Court from Nainital to Haldwani, the cabinet gave its consent to transfer 26.08 hectares of forest land adjacent to the Gaulapar Cricket Stadium in Haldwani for it.

Apart from this, the cabinet also gave its consent to implement the Mukhyamantri Uchha Shiksha Scholarship Scheme.