Baddi set for a new look

INFRASTRUCTURE: With the Himachal government starting development work in Baddi finally, the town will soon offer world class facilities.

Hindustan Lever Limited, Colgate-Palmolive, Wipro, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Indo Farm Tractors, Su-Kam Inverters, Surya Pharmaceuticals are just some of the names that one will find in Baddi.

A small town located a few kilometres west of National Highway 22, 50 km from Chandigarh, Baddi was a sleepy little town with a few scattered manufacturing units in the foothills of the Shivaliks until the Government of India announced a special package for the industrial development of backward states like Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal in June 2003.

The last four years have seen the small town developing into a sprawling manufacturing hub, but sans infrastructure. The state has been able to draw investment proposals of more than Rs 20,000 crore in the last four years but has not augmented the infrastructure in the area.

According to the state industries department, 123 large and medium units and 440 small and tiny units have been set up in Baddi since 2003 and projects worth Rs 1898.45 crore have been implemented.

But these investments in the absence of proper development plan have resulted in severe infrastructure bottlenecks. Connectivity has become one of Baddi's biggest challenges today, with roads leading to the town being jammed at all hours of the day. Constant heavy vehicle traffic has also damaged the existing road network while the state government is yet to lay new roads or repair the existing ones.

The problem has also been compounded by the fact that there is only one road that connects Baddi to Chandigarh and other parts of India.

Senior vice president of the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh Industries Association Deepak Bhandari, said the lack of medical facilities, education institutes and other social infrastructure has led to a lop-sided development of the town.

The formation of the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh Development Authority headed by HP chief minister at the behest of industry organisations has initiated some development projects.

A master plan for the land use pattern and road network is being prepared. The CEO of the Development Authority Dr Amandeep Garg, said a 100 bed ESI hospital and multi-speciality hospital are also being planned.

Dormitories to accommodate 1000 workers are being built, he said. The master plan, according to Garg, will include a city centre, transport hub, commercial areas in industrial town and a recreation centre.

---

ON THE ANVIL

100 bed hospital

1000 bed dormitory for migrant workers

A transport hub and a city centre