Selfie point put up in Dharamsala vandalised

Lalit Mohan

Dharamsala, March 9

The selfie point that was put up in Dharamsala by a private company, contracted by the Tourism Department, has been vandalised by some unidentified persons just two days after its erection. Now, a blame game in on as to who selected the site for putting up the selfie point and who was responsible for its upkeep. It was put up on a sharp curve on the road leading from Dharamsala to Yol.

Sources revealed that the selfie point was put up in Dharamsala at a cost of Rs 80,000. Twelve selfie points have been set up in various parts of the state, including Una, Shimla, Solan, Hamirpur and Chamba district.

The sources said the company that was contracted to put up the selfie points approached the tourism officials and told them that they have to put up the structures as per directives from Shimla.

The structures for selfie points were erected in a day as the company officials did not give time to tourism officials to identify the spot or take necessary permission from local authorities. In Dharamsala, a structure was erected on the protection wall of road and selfie point was tied with wires to an electricity poll.

The result of the hastily done work was that the structure was damaged just two days after its erection and public money used for its construction has gone waste. The sources said the Tourism Department has now refused to file an FIR against unidentified people who have damaged the selfie point on the plea that it had not yet taken over the structure from the company that erected it.

The sources said selfie points were put up on the directions of senior bureaucrats and the company tried to put up the structures bypassing all the rules and regulations.