Dehradun: The Department of Science & Technology of Government of India, in collaboration with the National Geotechnical Institute (NGI), Norway will establish a world-class National Geotechnical Facility (NGF) at Dehradun.

The institute will be developed as an autonomous government agency dealing with geotechnical research, information and consultancy, informed Prithivesh Nag, Surveyor General of India, while giving the details of the project.

The purpose of setting up of the facility is to achieve better techniques, safety and economy by the correct application of geotechnical knowledge in the building process. It would be made available to several sectors of the society.

The self-sustaining facility will be housed in the Poonch House Complex and would come up within a year's time.

The entire region surrounding the city is seismically active and natural hazards like earthquakes, landslides, snow avalanches and cloudbursts are common phenomena.