Shimla: Now it seems clear that much awaited Jakhu Ropeway Project got moved very shortly. After the intervention of High Court State Govt assures sanctions for progect as soon as possible. According to its DPR, Ropeway starts from 31 feet high tower to the Jakhu Top.
The construction of this project is almost clear as the state and Central government have assured the High Court that all necessary sanctions in this regard would be granted by July 23.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Vinod Kumar Gupta and Justice Sanjay Karol noted down the time schedule submitted by the commissioner, Tourism, and directed chief conservator of forest (Central) to accord sanction by July 20.
The commissioner, Tourism, informed the court that the divisional forest officer would submit the estimated value of trees by today evening and the Tourism Department would deposit the requisite amount within 48 hours.
The counsel for the Central government thereafter assured the High Court that within the next two days, final sanction would be granted to the Municipal Corporation, Shimla. When all this happened, the state government added that the sanction plan would be provided to MC, Shimla, by July 13 and the MC may go for construction thereafter. The Chief Justice also requested the advocate general to request the CM to lay the foundation stone by the last week of this month. Surprisingly, all officers of the state government urged before the court that necessary sanction would be provided in hours.
This order came on a petition filed in the Himachal High Court in August, 2004, wherein local resident, Raj Chauhan, had contended that the state government was neglecting the construction of the ropeway from Hotel Shivalik to Jakhoo temple. The petitioner alleged that even the Government of India had accorded environmental clearance for the construction of the ropeway and the Infrastructure Development Board had also granted approval for this project.
Moreover, the Government of India had also released Rs 3 crore for this purpose. Despite the clearance of the project, the state government had not done anything in this regard.
