Assured by minister Jagat Singh Negi, Lahaul residents call off protest

Dipender Manta

Mandi, August 4

The residents of the Lahaul valley ended their protest last evening after getting assurance from Tribal Development Minister Jagat Singh Negi that the state government would withdraw its notification regarding imposition of Town and Country Planning Act in six gram panchayats of Lahaul and Spiti district.

June 28 notification

• The state government had on June 28 issued a notification regarding imposition of the TCP Act from Atal Tunnel to Tandi.
• This would have impacted six panchayats of Lahaul and Spiti.
• Enraged over the decision, residents of Lahaul valley had been sitting on a chain hunger strike at Sissu for the last 19 days to oppose the decision of the state government.

The state government had on June 28 issued a notification regarding imposition of the TCP Act from Atal Tunnel to Tandi. This would have impacted six panchayats of Lahaul and Spiti. Enraged over the decision, residents of Lahaul valley had been sitting on a chain hunger strike at Sissu for the last 19 days to oppose the government decision.

Tribal Development Minister Jagat Singh Negi along with Lahaul and Spiti MLA Ravi Thakur met the protesters at Sissu to hear their grievances. They reiterated their demand to the Tribal Development Minister and urged him to withdraw the TCP Act notification from six panchayats of the tribal district.

Ravi Thakur, Lahaul and Spiti MLA also faced the wrath of the public yesterday. They accused him of not supporting their cause.

Anuradha Rana, chairperson of Zila Parishad Lahaul and Spiti, said that “the people of the district were unanimously opposed to the imposition of the TCP Act in Lahaul and Spiti. Yesterday, we apprised the minister about it and requested him to convey our message to the Chief Minister.”

“After hearing the views of the public, the minister assured us that the state government will revoke its notification regarding imposition of TCP Act from Atal tunnel up to Tandi in the district. After getting assurance from the minister, the residents of Lahaul valley ended their protest yesterday,” she added.

“It is a victory for public, who was united on the issue of protecting their rights. Gram panchayats have power to regulate construction activities under their jurisdiction and we want the construction activities to be regulated through gram panchayats in the district. We are thankful to the minister as well as the Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, who paid heed to our genuine demand,” she said.