Rohtak develops with Haryana CM’s bounty

HARYANA RESIDENTS will soon find some difference in Rohtak once they visit the city, fast emerging as the gateway of Haryana, thanks to many planned world class constructions.

The fast development of the home district of Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda which is only 70 km from New Delhi, has emerged as a dream project of the state government. It wants to take Rohtak to the level of Gurgaon and Noida by making connecting it better with the national capital.

In the last couple of years, during Congress regime in the state, state government has succeeded in getting new building concepts, especially for Rohtak which includes Industrial Model Township (IMT), Indian Institute of management (IIM), Footwear Design & Development Institute (FDDI), AIIMS at PGI, Sports Complex, Freedom Fighter’s Museum and the Maruti Driving School.

A senior officer in Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) said that all new buildings coming to the city from both private and public sector are being set up on a different pattern which is totally new.

“Moreover, the designs of these buildings, which had been pre-designed by best architects, cannot be adopted by any other district of the state,” he added.

When contacted, Lata Hooda, town planner, Rohtak, said, “After completion of Rohtak development plan 2025, now we are working on Rohtak development plan 2031, which is under the consideration of State Level Committee.”

Besides becoming the educational capital of Haryana, Rohtak is also fast emerging as the industrial city of the state where Maruti Suzuki has decided to set up its only R&D facility unit outside Japan.

Besides an investment of Rs 4,500 crore during 2012, Rohtak Industrial Model Township also has Asian Paints Ltd and Hitech Plastics Ltd and Footwear Design and Development Institute.

Rohtak also hosts the famous Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) of the state and a big civil hospital. Moreover, the state government has also succeeded in getting AIIMS in Rohtak PGI.

Rohtak fast emerging into a hi-tech district; Hooda in dock for being biased

Officials in Haryana town and country planning said that in the coming years, sector 6 of Rohtak where HUDA is developing the Rajiv Gandhi Sports Complex, which includes cricket, hockey and football facilities, tennis courts, an athletics stadium, wrestling hall, swimming pools and other leisure facilities, will be a centre of attraction of the city.

Rohtak, which is connected to seven cities by three national highways (NH 10, NH 71, and NH7 1A) and two State Highways (sh 16 and sh18) is being upgraded to six lanes with 30 km Rohtak City bypass.

Rohtak City is connected to New Delhi, Bhiwani, Jind, Gohana, and Panipat by rail.

Besides PGI, MDU and Shri Baba Mast Nath Ayurved University, there are numerous schools, and colleges in the city.

But the development of Rohtak is also causing some political upheavals in the state with most of the development project being awarded to Rohtak by Chief Minister Hooda. This has received severe criticism from the opposition parties, even from the members of ruling Congress, who attack Hooda for being biased with the people of other districts in allotting development projects.

“As far as the development is concerned, the chief minister belongs to the whole state and he should focus on overall development of the whole state”, said a senior Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader.

In similar tone, Haryana Janhit Chief Kuldeep Bishnoi said, “Hooda is ignoring other industrial cities of Gurgaon, Faridabad and Yamunanagar from where the government gets highest revenue collection”.