Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC)

About Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC):

• It is an innovative urban development project that integrates economic growth with mindfulness, holistic living, and sustainability. 
• The GMC project has been envisioned by the King of Bhutan, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck. 
• It is located in the south-central part of Bhutan and covers over 2500 square kilometers (bigger than Singapore).
• It is a first-of-its-kind Special Administrative Region (SAR) in Bhutan.
• It would directly benefit India in many ways since this city has been purposely placed along the border with India in Assam.
• Features of GMC:
  • The city will be built around a series of inhabitable bridges.
  • It is expected to be a low-rise city which will have its own university and health care facilities for both western and traditional medicine.
  • The planned city will have eleven “ribbonlike neighborhoods” that incorporate the area’s 35 rivers and streams.
  • Neighborhoods will be designed like mandalas, with repeated patterns organized around a central public space.
  • The city will have its own international airport.
  • It will also have several markets and spiritual centres.
  • To protect against flooding, paddy fields will be built along the rivers, “forming urban terraces that cascade down from the hills to the valley,”.
  • It will have its own government and have the independence to have its own law making, as well as an independent judiciary.
  • The GMC will have two protected areas – a national park and a wildlife sanctuary.

Q1: Which all countries border Bhutan?

The Kingdom of Bhutan is a sovereign nation located towards the eastern extreme of the Himalayas mountain range. It is evenly sandwiched between the sovereign territories of two nations: China and India.

News: As India inaugurates global co-operatives alliance, Bhutan pitches Gelephu as biggest co-operative project

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