Around 60 villagers have been sitting on a protest against their village being turned into a commercial touris... Read More

DEHRADUN: Around 60 villagers in Dhamda village of Yamkeshwar block of Pauri Garhwal have been sitting on a protest against their village being turned into a commercial tourist hub by the construction of a hotel . The villagers claimed that the district administration has allowed JCBs to operate in the middle of dense forests for ‘levelling the land’ which belongs to revenue department, forest department and villagers.

Kranti Kaparwan, who is leading the protests, said, “The levelling work will demolish Jhilmil cave, a site with mythological importance and also the construction of a hotel within a 10 km periphery of Rajaji National Park is against forest laws.”

The villagers also alleged that the work for the project has been given to a major ayurveda firm.

Padam Singh Tayal, 50, of Dhamand Kothar village in Pauri, told TOI, “The district officials have demarcated a part of my land for the firm’s project without asking me. We have complained to the district administration on several occasions but nobody paid any heed.”

Pauri district magistrate (DM) Sushil Kumar meanwhile termed the allegations as baseless. “We have allowed JCBs to pass through fields of only those villagers who have given their consent for the project. If they complain to us, we will stop the work.”

However, Shanti Prasad Bhatt, a member of Uttarakhand Kranti Dal, said, “If the DM is following the law and believes that the villagers are wrongly protesting then what is stopping him from taking action? He should give it in writing that the work is being done according to the law.”

