Clean stinking Kufri, CM asks HPTDC

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today asked the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) to clean famous tourist resort of Kufri near Shimla which was "stinking" and affecting tourist inflow.
Presiding over the meeting of Board of Directors of HPTDC he asked the officials concerned to restrict the number of horses and mules at Kufri and also explore the possibilities of developing ski-slopes at Narkanda and also start work on setting up the ski-lift.
He said land for reviving the hot sulphur springs at Tattapani has been identified and even the Kol Dam authorities were willing to give NOC (No Objection Certificate) and also the financial assistance to revive the Sulphur Springs, submerged in Kol Dam reservoir waters.

He asked the HPTDC to prepare a roadmap as to how many employees of the Corporation were going to retire in the next two years and initiate the process of rationalisation of staff.
It was informed at the meeting that as many as 100 utility workers would be employed in the Corporation and appointments would also be made through Limited Direct Recruitment (LDR) process.
The Corporation earned revenue of Rs 88.89 crore and operational profit of RS 262.85 lakhs and net profit of Rs 50.48 lakhs for the year 2015-16 and the turnover of the Corporation increased by 0.26 per cent whereas expenses have decreased to 0.17 per cent.

Managing Director HPTC, Dinesh Malhotra said the process of recruitment of utility Workers had been started and the posts were being filled after observing all the codal formalities.
He informed the HPTDC had done online bookings of its properties worth Rs 20 crore while the sales agents made bookings of Rs 98 lakh only.
Stress was laid upon on preparing a comprehensive action plan to convert the loss making units into profit earning ones and consensus was arrived on constructing a Banquet Hall at the rear of Cafe Shivalik at Parwanoo.