Shimla: With the Himachal High Court having quashed a government cancellation notice for the prestigious and high end Himalayan Ski Village project, even though it was being strongly opposed by the local people, the government has decided go in appeal in the case, chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal stated here today.
Talking to the media, the chief minister pointed out that recently the High Court had ordered dismantling of a captive thermal plant after taking cognizance of a public hearing that had strongly opposed its setting up with a cement plant in Nalagarh but in the Himalayan Ski Village case, the court has not considered strong opposition from the local people where this project is proposed to come up.
The public hearing conducted by a principal secretary of the government to consider the project had turned violent, Kullu Devta’s whose writ runs large in the valley had declared their opposition to the project and it was not the government but the local people who had gone to court opposing the project by filing a public interest instigation, he said.
Dhumal, who was accompanied by several cabinet ministers added that there was also a double bench judgment of the Himachal Pradesh High Court that had banned construction in the Kullu – Manali valley unless a master plan was prepared for the region.
The proposed Himalayan Ski Village plans to construct 400 cottages in an environmentally sensitive zone; is it a village or colonizing, Dhumal said?
” Such judgements do discourage our efforts to take public opinion into account but the government has decided to go file a letters patent appeal (LPA) against the court order that had quashed the governments cancellation notice served on the company which has proposed to set up of the Ski Village. Let the court adjudicate and find a solution to the matter,” said the chief minister.
Speaking about former chief minister Virbhadra Singh CD case, Dhumal said the senior congress leader without any basis was laying the blame at others for no BJP leader was party to the issue.
The audio recordings pertain to the 1989-90 period, no BJP leader or worker figures in the tapes, the CD was made public by a former congress man and it was Virbhadra Sing who had gone to court in the matter and also decided to hold a vigilance probe into it. Now it is the court that has framed charges against Virbhadra Singh and he is casting aspersions at the judicial process, said Dhumal.
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.
