Case registered for removal of solar lights along Himani Chamunda temple track

Lalit Mohan

Dharamsala, January 14

Congress MLA from Dharamsala Sudhir Sharma has filed an FIR against unidentified persons, who damaged 100 solar lights on the trek to Himani Chamunda temple. Sudhir Sharma filed a complaint in Nirwana police station near Dharamsala following which the police have registered an FIR under Section 3 of the PDP (Prevention of destruction of public property) Act against unidentified persons.

Sudhir Sharma, when asked, said he had also talked to Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu over the issue. “The CM has assured me that action would be taken against the forest officials who had damaged the solar lights put up by local people along the Himani Chamunda trek,” he said.

Resentment is brewing among locals after the Forest Department removed about 100 solar lights put up by them on the trek to temple. Sources told The Tribune that the Forest Department has removed the lights on an anonymous complaint that alleged that the these lights were “causing light pollution in the forest area”.

Trek to the temple is about 12 km long. Successive governments in Himachal had been trying to develop the temple as religious tourist spot. Initially, the BJP government led by former CM Prem Kumar Dhumal in 2011 had tried to start heli taxi service to the temple. However, the project failed to take off because of change of government.

The Congress government led by Virbhadra Singh in 2015 allotted the project to development ropeway till Himani Chamunda temple to Usha Breco company. The project was cancelled by the previous BJP government as the company did not start work at the ground level within stipulated time period.

Various proposals were made to develop the trek to the temple but no progress was made. Then the locals made contributions. They have been developing the infrastructure at Himani Chamunda temple. The move of the forest officials to remove solar lights has angered the people of Chamunda region.

Deputy Commissioner Kangra, Nipun Jindal, when contacted, said that forest officials removed the solar lights put on trek to Himani Chamunda on a complaint by some unidentified persons who alleged that the “solar lights there were causing light pollution”.

‘Were put up without permission’

• Forest officials had removed solar lights on the plea that these were put up on forest land without permission
• Locals had contributed and installed solar light to light up the track to temple
• Efforts by successive governments to develop Himani Chamunda temple had failed