By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 10 Jan: These days, three under construction resorts in different locations of the Garhwal division have been viral on social media and, in all these cases, gross violations of the rules are being alleged by not only social activists but also by local people. One of these resorts is being constructed in Khairkhal on Neelkanth Road under Laldhang Forest Range and this project is stated to be owned by Piyush Aggarwal, who is the son of Revenue, Finance and Urban Development Minister Prem Chand Aggarwal. Aggarwal has a knack of hitting the headlines, often for wrong reasons.
A case of illegal felling of protected tree species for the construction of a resort on private land has been filed against Piyush Agarwal. Allegations are that permission had been sought by the younger Aggarwal for felling 14 trees for construction of the resort. It was stated that the trees to be felled were of a species for which permission to cut can easily be obtained. However, according to the allegations, in lieu of this permission granted by the forest department, a total of 26 trees were felled including two trees of Khair which come under the restricted and protected category. The Laldhang range officer (DFO) of the forest department has filed a case against Piyush Agarwal for cutting the two khair trees.
It was reported that the resort of the minister’s son is being constructed on private land, and a JCB is being used for uprooting the felled trees, something that is not permissible in the forest area even if the land is private. Not only this, the locals as well as several social activists allege that a road has also been constructed on or around this under construction resort without due administrative permissions or approval. It is further alleged that a JCB machine kept running without permission for several days, and after the locals complained about it, the revenue sub-inspector had to stop the work thrice by reaching the spot. Local villagers allege that the tehsil administration never took any strict action as the land belongs to an influential politician. It may also be reminded here that Prem Chand Aggarwal is also the Revenue Minister of the state, under whom the entire revenue administration in the state functions and therefore it is alleged that no revenue official can actually dare to take action against the minister’s son.
Speaking to Garhwal Post, Forest Minister Subodh Uniyal claimed that illegal felling of the trees is a matter of serious concern and that action would be taken in accordance with the provisions if any such incident is confirmed. He also said that he has summoned a report in this connection from the officials concerned.
Meanwhile, two other projects are also going viral. One of these is stated to be an under- construction complex near Srinagar. The locals allege that the construction is being carried out in open violation of the norms and without due permission. Here also a number of trees have allegedly been felled for construction of the building and a road that leads to the building complex. Some claim that this project is a hotel being built in partnership with an MLA from district Haridwar, while some others claim that this is an under construction Gurdwara. The locals allege that irrespective of the ownership of the project, there has been a clear violation of the rules.
The third project in the news is an under construction building of a star rated hotel in Narendra Nagar and, in this case, it has been alleged that a large number of trees have been cut.
