Himachal HC acts tough on illegal hotels in Kasol, directs DC to file fresh status report

Taking serious note of construction of illegal hotels in Kullu district's Kasol village, the Himachal High Court has directed the Deputy Commissioner of the district to file a fresh report on action taken on orders of the court against illegal hotels.

A division bench comprising acting Chief Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Sandeep Sharma asked the DC to file a fresh status report on factual position by July 10 after giving details of action taken so far.

The DC, through an affidavit, informed the court that in compliance with the order of the court, the Sub Divisional Magistrate constituted three teams to seal 38 hotels in Kasol, Katagla, Chhala, Jari and Tosh, while 10 hotels had fulfilled statutory requirements.

These teams had visited the areas on June 26 and sealed 33 hotels (14 in Kasol, nine in Katagla, Jari and Chhala and 10 in Tosh), the court was told.

Of the remaining five, one hotel had filed a case and got a stay order while four others had razed the encroached portions on their own. The court had directed that all 44 hotels be shut down.

Regular checking and raids were being conducted in hotels, dhabas, home stays, restaurants and guest houses to prevent drug smuggling, the court was told.

The court had directed the DC to act as a nodal officer and coordinate with all departments to ensure that the encroachments were removed.

The court passed these directions after perusing a report filed by a Joint Inspection Committee which highlighted that 44 of the 60 hotels in Kasol neither have permission from the Tourism Department nor do they have any consent to operate in terms of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.