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Kuldeep Chauhan
Tribune News Service
Shimla, December 6
The Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC) has got nod from the Home Department for green fee from tourists entering the capital city and it has started the process of putting a mechanism in place that may take a couple of weeks more.
Political parties are a divided lot on the issue. The CPM which heads the SMC supports green fee while BJP and Congress leaders oppose it. But resident welfare associations supported the move, saying that the vehicles entering the capital should pay nominal green fee as these add to pollution and congestion in the city. Besides, it will give an additional income of Rs 15 crore in a year that can be used in promoting green cover of the city.
“We have got approval of the Home Department,” said Municipal Commissioner Pankaj Rai. “We are finalising the modalities to put in place a mechanism to charge the green fee from vehicles which are not registered in Himachal and that may take them a couple of week more,” he added. The House has approved the green fee proposal earlier. The SMC has decided to put in place a four-point system of collecting green tax from outside vehicles through the green fee app. The SMC has already put billboards educating tourists about the green fee and hold meetings with the DCs and SPs of Shimla and Solan. The green fee is nominal as compared with what is being charged from tourists in Manali. “Rs 300 will be charged for a bus, Rs 200 for a car and Rs 50 for a two-wheeler. The payment will be valid for a week,” he said.
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