Forest Dept’s bamboo huts in Dharamsala unoccupied for 2 years

Lalit Mohan

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Dharamsala, March 17

Three bamboo huts set up by the Forest Department in Dharamsala have not been occupied for the past about two years. These huts meant to promote eco-tourism in the area during the stint of the previous BJP government and constructed at a cost of Rs 45 lakh are getting decayed.

Constructed at a cost of Rs 45L, these huts were meant to promote eco-tourism in the area

Sources say that though the work on the huts was completed about two years ago, they were yet to be handed over to the Forest Department. The contractor, who had constructed the huts, had not handed them over to the department as his payment had not been released allegedly over poor quality of work.

DFO, Dharamsala, Dinesh Kumar says that the quality of work in bamboo huts is very poor. “As per the contract, the bamboos used in the huts was to be treated to prevent termite attacks. The contractor had to give a warrantee of five years that the bamboo and other material used in the huts would not get damaged due to weather or other causes. However, the huts have already started decaying and have faced termite attacks. Rainwater is entering from roofs of the huts. Due to the poor quality of work, the payments of the contractor have been withheld. The contractor has moved court against the decision of the Forest Department,” he adds.

Environment activists and residents of Dharamsala have questioned poor infrastructure being created by government departments with public money. Anil Sharma, a resident of Dharamsala, says that infrastructure is being created at various places in Kangra district in the name of promotion of tourism or eco-tourism. In Nagrota Surian, cottages were set up under the aegis of Asian Development Bank (ADB) at the cost of crores of rupees. “The cottages were set up a decade ago but they had not been occupied even for one day. The cottages have turned ramshackle and public money has been wasted,” he adds.

He says that the Forest Department set up the three bamboo huts at a cost of Rs 45 lakh. It means the cost of each bamboo hut was about Rs 15 lakh, which was more than the cost of even raising a concrete structure. “Now, the huts are getting damaged without being occupied even for one day. The government should take action against the officials who allowed the wastage of public funds on these project and action should be taken against them,” he adds.

Besides Nagrota Surian and Dharamsala, there are many government properties created by the Tourism and Forest departments that are being wasted.