1,823 given land rights flouting 118 Act : CM

Tribune News Service

Shimla, February 5

As many as 1,823 persons were given ownership rights of government land in violation of Section 118 of the HP Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur told the Assembly.

The government was examining the matter and needful would be done and action be initiated, he told BJP MLA Balbir Singh from Chintpurni in a written reply. He clarified that any order or decree passed by the courts against the statutes was not binding on the government under the Act but orders passed as per statutes were binding.

In reply to another question by BJP MLA from Karsog Hira Lal, he said there was no proposal for construction of a hotel by the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation and 1.5 bigha land had been identified at Tattapani by the department to promote water sports. In addition, there was a proposal to develop “hot water springs” and include Tattapani in the religious circuit under the “Swadesh Darshan” scheme of the Union Ministry of Tourism.

For constructs of “ghats”, the Public Works Department had prepared estimates of two ghats and these would cost Rs 1,44,73,395 and Rs 1,23,89,226 had been sanctioned while the National Thermal Power Corporation had been asked provide Rs 1.89 crore under Corporate Social Responsibility for the construction of “hot water baths”.