Villagers write to NGT against cutting of hill

Tribune News Service

Mandi, December 31

Residents of Chadiyara village have lodged a complaint against the illegal cutting of a hill.

Two houses were damaged following a landslide on Tuesday.

The hill had caved in due to illegal extraction of earth. In their complaint to the National Green Tribunal, the villagers alleged that the contractor had illegally extracted soil from the hill and sold it to the company engaged in the construction of the Kiratpur-Nagchala stretch of the National Highway-21.

They said the contractor was cutting a part of the hill on a private land without the permission of the department concerned.

A huge chunk of land came down along with boulders close to the National Highway in the wee hours on Tuesday. Nobody was injured in the landslip, which obstructed the highway.

The villagers said unscientific cutting of the hill was the cause of the landslide. Other houses could also be damaged, they said. They demanded an inquiry into the illegal cutting of the hill and compensation for the affected villagers.