Shimla: Taking cognizance of a public interest litigation, Himachal High Court on Wednesday stayed the government proposition of diverting funds from Jawaharlal National Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) for Shimla city to any other project.
Division bench of Chief Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice VK Sharma after passing directions for staying any diversion of funds under Basic Service of Urban Poor (BSUP) of JNNURM has listed the matter for 27, June.
Petitioner Tarlok Chauhan through a PIL has brought to the notice of the court that the residents of the town cannot be made to suffer on account of the extremely slow progress under JNNRUM projects which was launched in 2005 and funds began pouring in immediately.
He adds that there is every reason to believe that there is lack of coordination between various departments for in 5 years none of the projects started till date have been implemented.
Pointing out the BSUP scheme under which houses for the urban poor were to be constructed, Chauhan in his petition states that HIMUDA, a government organization, submitted a detailed project report to the central government for construction of 232 house in November, 2010.
But in December, 2010, the Himachal Pradesh urban development department has written to the central authorities for transferring Rs 13.02 crore from BSUP Shimla to two projects for Sarkaghat and Sundernagar towns in Mandi district on the ground that Shimla MC has been unable to locate land within the city where the budget could be used.
The petitioner has also expressed anguish at the ‘tardy and sluggish execution’ of Auckland House Tunnel, which was supposed to stand completed by March, 2008 but despite a delay of more than three years, the public was facing undue hardships because of the slow pace of work at the site which had already caused immense damage to private and public properties in the vicinity.
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads the team of media professionals at Hill Post.
In a career spanning over two decades through all formats of journalism in Electronic, Print and Online Media, he brings with him enough experience to steer this platform. He lives in Shimla.
