Dharamsala bus stand project non-starter for seven years

Lalit Mohan

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Dharamsala, January 15

The project for rebuilding Dharamsala bus stand has been lingering for the past more than seven years. The bus stand project was allotted to a private company during the stint of the previous Congress government by the then Minister for Transport GS Bali on build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis.

An MoU was signed with a private company by the Bus Stand Development Authority of the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC). The private company was to develop a modern bus stand with adequate parking space for buses and private cars. The market complex and food court was also planned in the bus stand. The company was mandated to run the bus stand for a period of 40 years after which the property was to be handed over back to the HRTC as per the MoU.

The bus stand authority had signed MoUs for development of two others bus stands at Una and Chintpurni with the same company. Both the bus stands have been completed and are operational. However, the work for the construction of Dharamsala bus stand was yet to start.

Sources here said that the work for the Dharamsala bus stand could not be started as the land could not be handed over to the company with which the MoU was signed. The land could not be handed over as the permission for the land, classified as forest land, was yet to be received from competent authorities of the Union Ministry for Environment and Forests.

During the stint of the previous BJP government, not much effort was made to get forest clearances from the union ministry. Despite that the power to grant permissions for conversion of up to 40 hectares land for development projects has been given to the Shimla office of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest, no effort was made to get clearance for the bus stand project.

Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, who is also looking after the transport portfolio, convened a meeting of the HRTC officials at Dharamsala during the winter session of the Himachal Assembly. He directed the officials concerned to expedite the permission so that headway could be made in the Dharamsala bus stand project.