HP: 36 unauthorised hotels sealed in Kullu for violating norms

The Kullu district administration today sealed 36 unauthorised hotels operating in Himachal Pradesh's Parvati valley, officials said.

The sealing drive was carried out by a team headed by Kullu Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Amit Guleria under tight police security.

Guleria told PTI that the work of sealing of unauthorised hotels was carried out for several hours.

Power and water connections were disconnected before sealing of the hotels, he said.

The sealing of unauthorised hotels is being done in a phased manner. Forty such hotels in Manikaran valley in Kullu have already been sealed, Guleria said.

He said around 70 unauthorised hotels are left to be sealed and it would be done within 20-25 days, in the next phase.

These hotels have been found to be operating illegally as they violate several building and environmental norms, Guleria said.

Today sealing drive was carried out amid tight security keeping in view the May 1 incident in Kasauli where assistant town planner Shail Bala Sharma and Public Works Department (PWD) employee Gulab Singh were shot dead allegedly by an hotelier during a drive against illegal hotels.

In Dharamshala, around 38 hotels in the McLeod Ganj area were served notices by the municipal corporation.

These hotels have been given 15 days to dismantle their illegal portions and provide parking facilities, or face stoppage of power and water supply, officials said