Govt to make plan to get 17,418 kanals of Ram Gopal temple vacated

Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri today said that the state government would make a plan to get encroachments removed from 17,418 kanals owned by the Ram Gopal temple at Damtal in Kangra. This temple land includes 2,000 kanals in Punjab. He was replying to Indora MLA Malender Rajan’s question during the Question Hour in the Vidhan Sabha.

Agnihotri admitted that there were a lot of encroachments on the temple land. “We have started demarcation work and 8,863 kanals have already been demarcated. The Language, Art and Culture Department will prepare a plan and then the House will be informed about how the temple land will be got vacated,” he added.

Agnihotri said that 176 persons had built shops on the temple land but the details of the provisions under which they had been given land were not available. “There are 12 stone crushers, five petrol pumps, four hotels, one workshop on the temple land. A total of 2,000 kanals of the Ram Gopal temple falls in Punjab,” he added.

To Bharmour MLA Janak Raj’s question on the status of the 166.99-km Shimla-Mataur four-lane road project, Public Works Department (PWD) Minister said that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) was executing the project, which had been divided into eight packages. Other MLAs Rakesh Kalia and Bhuvneshwar Gaur also said that the road should be properly maintained and till then the toll should not be charged.

Vikramaditya said, “On behalf of the state government, I would like to clarify that any national agency working in Himachal has to be responsible towards the state authorities. It is unfortunate that the NHAI acts with arrogance and high-headedness, which is not in the interest of the state.” He added that the NHAI would have to work in cohesion with the state government “as we support it in land acquisition but it is working unilaterally, which is not in the interest of Himachal”.

He said, “I will take up the issue with Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari. It is our duty to protect the interests of Himachal or else we will take strong notice of this.” He assured the House that the issue that till the work on the road was not completed, the toll should not be charged would be taken up with the NHAI.