Decision on 35 D’sala hotels today

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, June 24

The Municipal Corporation will on Monday take a call on action to be taken against 35 hotels in upper Dharamsala, which have constructed illegal portions.

Earlier, the defaulters were issued notices and asked to explain why they carried out illegal constructions after getting completion certificates from the authorities concerned.

MC Commissioner Sandeep Kadam said some owners had not filed reply. Sources said the corporation might sever power and water connections of the erring hotels.

Besides the MC, the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board (HPSEB) had also issued notices to the hotels to furnish new no-objection certificates (NOC) or else they would lose power connections.

MC employees had taken the measurements of the hotels on the directions of the High Court. The court had directed the corporation to verify the contents of a complaint in which it was alleged that no action was taken against hoteliers who had carried out unauthorised constructions after taking the completion certificate from the authorities.

At the centre of controversy are hotels on the road leading to the Union Ministry for Foreign Affairs liaison office to the Dalai Lama. The sources said these hotels had sold some areas and shops were opened.

Liaison officer to the Dalai Lama Sidharth Malik had written to the Divisional Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, the SP and Municipal Corporation to check illegal hotels coming up in its vicinity. The officer had alleged that hotel owners were blocking the road, hampering the vehicle movement.

On the orders of the High Court, power and water connections of 128 hotels have been snapped. The closure of such a large number of hotels has impacted the tourism in Dharamsala.

Tourists from other states were not coming due to the closure of a large number of hotels, said Deepak, a travel agent, adding that hotel owners were being penalised but no action was being taken against those who allowed illegal constructions.

May lose power, water

• As many as 35 hotels in upper Dharamsala have constructed illegal portions.
• Defaulters were issued notices, but some of them did not reply to these. The electricity board had also served notices on the erring hotels asking them to furnish no-objection certificates.
• The corporation may sever power and water connections of the erring hotels. At the centre of controversy are hotels on the road leading to the Union Ministry for Foreign Affairs liaison office.