Shimla : Having accepted 71,000 applications from all over the country to build flats and houses in the state the Himachal Pradesh Urban Development Authority(HIMUDA) is now finding it hard looking for land to carry out the project.
The state run company needs almost 26,000 bighas of land in around 60 towns.But in the last few months the company has only been able to find land at a dozen or so places,say officials.
HIMUDA vice chairman Ganesh Dutt said the building company(HIMUDA) has been able to find land at some places while search is on to find more land at other places.
“Around 71,000 applications were received and HIMUDA collected Rs 35 crore in the process.No target has been set so far to finish the project as we are still looking for land,” said Dutt.
The applications have not only come in from people within the state but in large numbers from outside the state as well, as people in the plains dream of owning a house in the hills.
In popular hill station like Shimla and other such places majority of the applications are by non Himachal domicile people.
Shimla has the highest number of applications at 8100.Other popular tourist towns also have applications from outside the state.
In a 20 year career published widely. He has worked for the BBC, AFP, The Statesman, IANS and the Business Standard . Known for his hard hitting writing and occasional off-beat stories. He lives in Shimla.
I don’t think it is a good idea to have flat system in HP and that too 71,000 units!! Does anybody think about how one will manage the water and environment resources… and what will be the benefits ( the legacy) of this project to the state….and its tourism..
It is not uncommon for a state to start selling land and houses when all other sources of income run dry and there is no other way to cover the fiscal deficit. Punjab govt always denies it is in the red and is selling land as last resort to cover the deficit. H.P. is going the same way. In earlier sellouts, the HIMUDA had priced turnkey built cottages at rate of Rs75 lakh or more, which would normally cost about Rs 25 lakh, even less, in local purchase.It is a pound of flesh for the allottees and no charity by any stretch of meaning.
I agree with Neha that flat system is not just an eyesore on the hill landscape, but is environmentally hostile artifice. In Europe, there are landscaping laws, in India homoeosapiens are yet to evolve to it. Watch the vandalism and pull your hairs in helplessness!
You know there are so many resources in Himachal and the state govt should have a vision and nurture them.. say for instance – Kangra tea…. everything is there – the plantations, factory …. why can it not be branded and marketed…. but the land is being leased out for 100 years for ppl to make bunglows in Palampur….
Can’t a PIL be fied against this!
The unceremonious exit “Kangari Chai”, the Kangra Tea, would remain a stigma on the governments to come. It is only shamelessness of the government that it has not been able to sustain the business of the unique liquor of the hills which only recently was awarded Geographic Indicator by Unesco(?). Which means world community recognizes its geographic uniqueness. What kangari tea? the posteriority may ask, of the warm steaming concoction which was considered to be panacea of all the winter ills. It is only outrageous that government is just watching the tea to become extinct just when it got the highest honour.It is just like we hear of Padma Shree dying in penury on the streets in this country. If the US is patenting turmeric, mustard or dhania, it is a slap on the face of Indian government which is not undeserved. It is impossible for a person like me to imagine a concrete monster, in place of cascading tea gardens where I have been accustomed to sip the ubiquitous cup of tea fresh from gardens underneath the awesome Dhauladhars every morning, not very long ago.