Illegal hotels on govt’s radar

Pratibha Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, March 23

With the court taking a strict view on unauthorised hotels all over the state, the state government has set the ball rolling to ensure that over 1,500 such hotels functioning without necessary sanctions are brought to book.

The State Pollution Control Board (SPCB), Excise and Taxation, Tourism and Town and Country Planning (TCP) Departments, have been directed to take action against all such hotels so that they are made to fall in line. As per government estimates, the number of such unauthorised hotels is about 200 each in Kullu-Manali and Dharamsala and about 125 in Kasauli. With the threat of demolition and closure looming large over more than 1,500 hotels, the government has initiated the process to check that necessary permission is in place. The court has hauled up various agencies of the government for its laxity in enforcing the norms on these hotels.

“Though we are yet to arrive at the exact figure, roughly the number of such hotels which do not comply with the norms laid down by various agencies is above 1,500 all over the state,” admitted an official. There are several instances where the hotels are running without the consent of the SPCB or Tourism Department.

The figure of such hotels functioning without necessary sanctions varies from one government agency to another. “The number is the highest with the Excise Department as it is charging all taxes, while the number is less in the Tourism or TCP Departments’ records,” he admitted.

Recently, Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Development and TCP, Tarun Kapoor directed the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB), Excise and Taxation, Tourism and Town and Country Planning Departments to compile and update their records with regard to the hotels functioning without permission. “I held a meeting and directed these four agencies to update their records with regard to all sanctions at their end so that we have complete data of such hotels,” said Kapoor.

The water and electricity supply of many of these hotels has been disconnected in Dharamsala and Kullu-Manali. In many cases, the building plan from the TCP Department has either not been approved or there is major deviation from the approved maps. In other cases, no prior sanction or consent to operate has been sought from the SPCB. However, in a majority of these illegal hotels, the Excise Department is taking all taxes.

The unregulated mushrooming of hotels in popular tourist destinations like Kullu-Manali, Dharamsala-McLeodganj, Shimla, Kasauli and Dalhousie has turned these places into concrete jungles.