Govt. bans construction work in tourist resorts

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, AUG. 25. Waking up to continued blatant commercial exploitation of its premier hill destinations, the Himachal Pradesh Government has imposed a ``blanket ban'' on construction activity in the popular tourist resorts of Shimla, Manali, Dalhousie and Kasuali with immediate effect.

Talking to The Hindu here, the Himachal Chief Minister, Mr. Prem Kumar Dhumal, said this decision had been taken in view of the continued exploitation of the hills and the increased incidents of landslips in these areas. ``Before nature's fury creates further damage and destroys the very nature of our hill stations, effective regulatory measures need to be taken,'' he added.

Mr. Dhumal, who was here to attend the funeral Mr. P. R. Kumaramangalam, said the decision had been taken with the aim to preserve the cultural and heritage importance of these hills stations which had faced an onslaught of commercial activity during the last decade. The Chief Minister said that unplanned growth and illegal constructions had affected the growth of these hill stations leading to increased congestion and even pollution.

Putting the blame on the previous Congress(I) Government for allowing construction of huge buildings including some Government buildings without any legal sanction or plans, the Chief Minister said that during the previous Congress(I) regime, nearly 1,100 illegal buildings were granted sanction without approval of plans. Mr. Dhumal said a ``heritage zone'' had been created in Shimla where no construction activity would be allowed and old buildings would be preserved. No construction activity would be allowed in the Shimla township above the main Cart Road.

At the same time, he said steps had been taken to put a ban on the construction activity in Manali and Dhalhousie which are facing a declining trend as far as tourist arrivals are concerned. ``The fact is, that these areas, over the years have been over-exploited and turned into a concrete jungle. Tourists feel that visiting these areas is like going to any other metro city. This commercialisation has to stop,'' he asserted.

The Chief Minister said plans had been drawn to develop new tourist destinations in the Kangra, Kullu and Shimla districts.

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