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The Chief Minister of Uttarakhand declared the Gairsain town as a new administrative division of the state
Background
In its Vision Document, released before the 2017 Assembly elections, the current ruling party had promised to equip Gairsain with top-class infrastructure and consider declaring it as a summer capital with the “consensus of all”. On March 4 last year, Rawat had announced in the Budget Session of the Assembly held in Gairsain(Bhararisen) that the town will become the summer capital of the state.
About the new capital city
- The Gairsain division would comprise four hill districts, including Almora and Bageshwar (both in Kumaon) and Rudrapyarag and Chamoli (in Garhwal).
- A commissioner and a DIG will be deployed in Gairsain.
- It will be a third commissionerate after Kumaon and Garhwal.
- Gairsain, a tehsil in Chamoli district, is located nearly 270-km from the existing temporary capital of Dehradun.
- Developed in an area of 47-acres, the Vidhan Sabha complex in Bhararisen stands at a height of 2,380-metre from the sea level, making it a cold location for the entire year.
History of Gairsain
- Even when Uttarakhand was carved out as a separate state from Uttar Pradesh on November 9, 2000, statehood activists had contended that Gairsain was best suited to be the capital of the mountainous state since it was between both Kumaon and Garhwal regions.
- But it was Dehradun in the plains that was named the temporary capital.
- In 2012, the congress govt had held the first cabinet meeting in Gairsain in the local block office building and It was also announced that Gairsain will host at least one session in a year.
- In 2013, the then govt had laid the foundation stone of a Vidhan Sabha building in Gairsain
States/UT with more than one capital cities
- Maharashtra has two capitals — Mumbai and Nagpur — with the latter being the winter capital of the state.
- The Union Territory Jammu and Kashmir, also has two capitals — Srinagar in summers and Jammu in winters.
- Himachal Pradesh, the hilly state is another one that has two capitals — Dharamshala and Shimla(Summer)
Other states with similar proposal
- Tamil Nadu: its present capital, the government has proposed the idea of a second capital, with many people clamouring for Madurai to be given this honour.
- Karnataka: Current capital-Bengaluru, but it also conducts winter sessions in Belagavi(not announced officially)
- Andhra Pradesh: The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister has approved a proposal to have three capitals for the state. As per the new plan, the cities Visakhapatnam, Amaravati, and Kurnool will be the executive, legislative, and judicial capitals, respectively.
Two states having one capital
Chandigarh: The capital of Punjab is Chandigarh, which also serves as the capital of Haryana and is thus administered separately as a Union Territory of India. The judicial branch of the state government is provided by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in Chandigarh.
