Built sans approval, Rs 6 crore parking facility lying unused

Ravinder Sood

Palampur, June 22

A big parking complex, constructed by the Tourism Department at a cost of Rs 6 crore near the paragliding landing site at Bir last year, is yet to be made operational due to the lack of mandatory clearance from the Town and Country Planning Department (TCP) and the Special Area Development Authority (SADA).

Information gathered by The Tribune revealed that as the parking complex was constructed without the prior approval of the TCP and SADA, it cannot be inaugurated. Even Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had refused to inaugurate it in October last when he came to know that the entire structure was constructed without the mandatory approval of the TCP Department.

With the tourist season at its peak in Kangra valley, visitors in large numbers are reaching Bir-Billing, which is among the top-10 paragliding sites in the world.

However, the tourist destination lacks a proper parking space for vehicles, causing a lot of inconvenience to the tourists.

Maintaining that the parking complex was constructed by the Tourism Department without the mandatory approval, Aman Kumar, Planning Officer, TCP, said, “Despite several notices, the department continued with the construction work in violation of rules.

The Himachal Pradesh High Court took cognisance of news reports that appeared in these columns last year and directed the Tourism Department to dismantle one floor of the building, which was constructed illegally and posed a hazard to flyers.

Later, the Tourism Department dismantled one floor of the parking complex.”

Baijnath SDM Devi Chand Thakur, who is also the Chairman of the Special Area Development Authority, told The Tribune that the Tourism Department had not applied for the approval to the building in the past one year.

He added once the department submits documents to SADA, it could study the matter for the grant of approval. “The parking complex has been built in a no-construction zone due to which the TCP has denied the permission thrice,” the SDM added.

As per local residents, the government had acquired the land for developing the paragliding landing site and there was no proposal for the construction of a parking complex.

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