Uttarakhand High Court: There can be 103 acres of land in Patwadangar or 91 acres of land in HMT for HC
Why are they not being selected for the court despite having 103 acres of land in Patwadangar near Nainital and 45 acres of land given to the state government from HMT near Kathgodam (91 acres including forest and open land of the state government). If a High Court is formed here, then neither trees will have to be cut nor is there any possibility of objection from the Forest Ministry, NGT or any other. All facilities including electricity, water, transport, parking are already here. Both these places are picturesque, natural and peaceful areas. The weather here is also better than Nainital or Haldwani. Being away from the main road, its operation is also likely to be easy.
103 acres of land and buildings are lying unused in Patwadangar
This huge 103 acre complex in Patwadangar, 12 km away from Nainital on the Nainital-Haldwani road and worth approximately Rs 5 billion, has not been used in any way for 19 years. The Vaccine Institute was established here in 1903. In the year 1957, production of anti-rabies vaccine and later tetanus vaccine was also started in this institute. After smallpox was eradicated from the world in 1980, various types of vaccines continued to be manufactured here till 2003. In later years, vaccine manufacturing was stopped here due to lack of modern technology.
The land remained with Pantnagar University for 15 years
In 2005, the state government handed over the institute to GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar and converted it into a Biotechnology Institute. This institute remained with Pantnagar University for 15 years but no significant achievement could be achieved. In 2019, the then Vice Chancellor of Kumaon University, Prof. KS Rana raised the demand to give this place to the university but in 2020, the Uttarakhand government handed it over to the Uttarakhand Biotechnology Council, Haldi. Even now the current Vice Chancellor Prof. DS Rawat is trying hard to get this done in the university.
HMT land was obtained due to Dhami’s efforts
In 2020, 45.33 acres of developed land and buildings of HMT located at Ranibagh near Kathgodam was given to the state government from the Centre. CM Dhami had requested Prime Minister Modi and the then Union Heavy Industries Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey to transfer the HMT land to the state government. After this, the Government of India handed over this land of HMT to the Government of Uttarakhand for an amount of Rs 72 crore. Earlier this campus was in 91 acres of which 45.33 acres was purchased factory land. The remaining land belonged to the state government and forest department which has been returned.
HMT was once the pride of Uttarakhand, working here was a status symbol
HMT Factory, established in the year 1985 with the efforts of the then Heavy Industries Minister ND Tiwari, was once the pride of Uttarakhand. Then it was spread over 91 acres. At one time there were more than 500 machines in this factory. There was an annual turnover of Rs 500 crore and 20 lakh watches were made every year, but after competition and increasing trend of digital technology, it was closed in 2016 and due to lack of maintenance, the factory and the residential colonies built here fell into ruins. At the time of company closure in 2016, 512 employees were employed. Some took VRS and some were adjusted elsewhere.
