Blogs
Save Trees: 24 private luxury apartments on the grave of hundreds of trees
Himachal Watcher visited the spot where DFL has been given NOC to 6,650 square meter land in a thick forest for building 24 luxury apartments.
In a country like India, where political and economically powerful personalities have sold their souls to the God of Greed and all matters is the wealth they have in their lockers or in Swiss banks. The money plus political power means monopoly. For instance, how powerful and monopolistic a person can be if he has relations to the powerful family with great political background, have assets more than that of Mr. Ambani, and is partner with DLF Limited, India’s largest real estate conglomerate. Let me site a recent example.
Bemloe Development and Infrastructure Company asked for the permission to build 24 super luxury villas on a land in Shimla, in the middle of a dense forest, the whole construction plan granted permission in a single day. Now, if a common man approaches with a small construction plan to government departments like MC and Forest, then he’ll have wander in government offices for months. Even if the ruling government can justify the allotment of the land, how the forest department and the Commissioner issued no objection to the road, which was proposed by the builders to link their luxury villa site with the bypass road. If you ever notice, the area is covered with a thick population of Deodar trees and the spot of construction is visible from popular spots of Shimla city. The NOC given to 6,650 square meter land in a thick forest for building luxury apartments is in itself a violation.
Even the opposition proposed a spot inspection so that the matter could be resolved in a single day. When the controversy gained attention in Vidhan Sabha, the respected Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Mr. Prem Kumar Dhumal ordered an enquiry into the matter referring it for a review to Vidhan Sabha Committee. However, all the reports were found ok, no violation of rules was found, and the permission was granted under 118 of HP Tenancy and Land Reforms Act for free sale. Well, we can’t be sure, but there are a few coincident, which raise big questions. First, that the Bemloe is a front of DLF builders, biggest real estate firm of India, and second is that Robert Vadra, partners with DLF, is the son & law of the ruling United Progressive Alliance coalition chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
Moved by a great concern for environment and the fate of Shimla’s greenery, we couldn’t ignore the matter, like it was ignored by the government and by so called guardians of laws. Himachal Watcher visited the construction site of DLF’s luxury apartments in order to measure its impact on forest. What we observed was shocking and stunned us. We have uploaded 50 images, depicting a cruel massacre, with this article.
While we walked towards the construction site, we found that the small path, which was initially used to go through the forest by local residents, was widened by cutting the hill to make a way for heavy vehicles, so that the transportation of construction materials could be facilitated. We can’t say how many trees, which blocked their way, disappeared during that period, but the condition of those near to the road is very poor. Due to the cutting of hill, great amount of soil was removed. While protection of trees was not an important issue, it was done very brutally. Wounds on many trees were still fresh, which the Jaws of JCB gave them and many others are ready to fall a victim to the planned slow killing.
Many trees are losing grip on the ground as the soil has been removed over their roots and it’s certain that next rain season will witness falling of many trees, which will not be questioned as it occurred due natural calamities. Have a look at the pictures carefully and you’ll see roots of trees, which are either cut down or hanging out and have dried.
When we reached the construction site, the work was in progress with great enthusiasm, which we never witnessed when such a construction work has been commission under a government policy related to the welfare of the public. We wonder if someone can find such a great patch without a single tree in the middle of a dense forest. There is a picture and video that shows trunk of tree partially visible while the JCB is at work. We wonder, who buried it in the middle of construction site? Moreover, when the apartments will be ready and sold, it is obvious that the road to these luxury apartments will widened to make a smooth way for the exotic vehicles of the wealthy owners of these luxury villas. We fear the forest will suffer a lot in future too.
It’s not the first time such an act of violation took place in Himachal. In a similar case, 1,000 trees were axed in Solan for a project belonging to Optima Constructions, which was granted permission without any concern for the agriculture land.
HW requests all the citizens to show concern for their motherland and unite to stand against such monopolistic acts of government before they destroy the beauty and peace of our wonderful Shimla. We are ignoring the obvious flaws in our political and economical culture and as a result of that most of the people in India are suffering from poverty, unemployment, and corruption. Don’t wait for some leader to take initiative, but be the first to initiate. By tolerating and ignoring the oblivious flaws in our system, we are promoting the culture of corruption. Anyone can criticize, but initiative for reforms is the last thing in our minds.
Shimla-In yet another instance, two private bus operators in Shimla city were seen creating a nuisance for the public by jamming the traffic. A reader clicked some pictures at the BCS bust stop in Shimla city on February 19, 2022, at about 8 PM and shared them with us. The reader alleged that two private bus operators, namely ‘Komal’ and ‘Chadda’, indulged in a verbal spat, most probably over their schedule. While the drivers argued, one of the buses remained parked in the middle of the road, choking the traffic. The staff of these two buses indulged in a verbal spat for about 5-10 minutes during which the general public faced a huge inconvenience. The reader has requested the Traffic Police Shimla to take action against such operators and discourage them from adopting such a bullying attitude that they don’t even hesitate to block the entire road.
Write and Publish Blog on HW
If you have relevant issues/complains that you want the people and the government to see and read about, you can publish blogs on Himachal Watcher. Send us your blogs with pictures/videos at editor [at] himachalwatcher [dot]com
Language: Hindi and English
Note For Multimedia Files: If you have high resolution images/videos (taken with smartphone/camera), then send us the originals through Google Drive or We Transfer or any other file sharing applications that suits you.
Sundernagar-Many people visit the Sundernagar lake in Mandi district and litter along the road. Winds carry all those packets and plastic bottles into the lake. This practice of littering is unlawful because it costs millions in clean-up projects. It portrays a bad picture of an area. Littering is a huge threat to the aquatic life too. In my view, the solution is awareness, responsibility, sensibility and concern for nature. We as a society need to play a big role. At least, dustbins should be installed along the lake. Otherwise, the negligence in the present will affect us in near future.
-Blog and Picture By Divya Acharya, Sundernagar
Write and Publish Blog on HW
If you have relevant issues/complains that you want the people and the government to see and read about, you can publish blogs on Himachal Watcher. Send us your blogs with pictures/videos at editor [at] himachalwatcher [dot]com
Language: Hindi and English
Note For Multimedia Files: If you have high resolution images/videos (taken with smartphone/camera), then send us the originals through Google Drive or We Transfer or any other file sharing applications that suits you.
Shimla-A youth from a small town of the Mandi district – Sarkaghat- started as a freelancer and went on to launch his own start-up in 2014. By 2021, the start-up grew into a company that has garnered international clients and also designed and developed websites and web apps for several Departments of the Himachal Pradesh Government.
Netgen IT Solutions Pvt Ltd- a young agile company- has, so far, developed websites for the Department of Information Technology, Women & Child Development, Rope & Rapid Transport Development Corporation, HP Milk Federation Cooperation, and the HP AIDS Control Society.
Besides, it also developed HimSuraksha Abhiyan App (National Health Mission) and the website of the Department of Tourism & Civil Aviation along with a Services Portal.
Further, the website of the Department of Information & Public Relations and the single window system was also developed by NetGen.
Having developed over 2500 websites, Netgen IT Solutions has an imprint of having worked for clients spread over 25 countries in Europe, America, Asia and Australia.
Bootstrapped as a Start-Up on 7th July 2014, the company has evolved to offer a diverse set of services for web, e-commerce and mobile solutions that have enabled Global and Indian business to adapt to a Digital First environment. In seven years, this Shimla-based company has carved out a niche for itself.
The company started with a small team of just four people, and today it employs strong-heeled 25 IT professionals. The skillset of web developers, designers, networking specialists, social media marketers and others is expanding with the growth of the company.
To mark the NetGen Foundation Day, the company hosted a live inter-action of the team members with some clients to understand the need for future technologies and solutions for a fast-changing business environment in the shadow COVID pandemic.
Mr Rajneesh Rana, Founder and Managing Director of the company, is a computer science graduate. Speaking about the company’s journey, Rana’s says, “Stepping out from working as a freelancer at the small township of Sarkhaghat, in Himachal Pradesh, to launching a start-up company, was my first step in entrepreneurship. The company was founded on a shoe-string budget with a small capital outlay. After overcoming the initial hesitancy, we’re on the firmer ground today.”
With the growth in demand for IT Services, the company in the initial year faced manpower shortages. The management took to train and equip freshers in a mentorship program to meet its needs for IT Professionals and also to equip others to find gainful employment elsewhere. Netgen till date has trained over 50 freshers with essential and advanced IT skills. Most of them for the first time in their careers got exposure to the IT Industry.
The company’s IT Technical Team today is professionally equipped to work in 20+ technologies that can be deployed across a vast network of industries.
The Netgen team of IT professionals has expanded the services that the company now provides. A multitude of projects employing creative website design-development; customised software products; e-Commerce solutions; server administration – web security – networking services; mobile application design – development; social media marketing; stand completed.
“There is a growing demand for many other IT and IT-enabled services that the company has successfully delivered for Global and Indian clients,” said Rajneesh.
“Since the breakout of the COVID pandemic, the demand for online services has increased. It created an environment that demands moving things onto digital platform, bringing more opportunities for the IT sector ,” added Rajneesh.
“Take the case of the Government of Himachal Pradesh, India. To secure baseline health data of the over 70 lakh residents in the state and to prepare effective strategies for countering the spread of the pandemic in challenging hilly terrain, the state government needed a simple but effective IT-enabled solution to capture the data as fast as possible,” he said.
“The ‘Him Suraksha Abhiyan’ application designed and developed by NetGen IT Solutions was used by thousands of teams spread under 2300+ sub-centres. In just over a month, the software solution created successfully captured the data of over 68 lakh residents of Himachal Pradesh,” he added.
The 70:30 Percent (%) Global – Domestic revenue stream of Netgen has prepared the company to expand both its export and domestic service portfolios, said Rajneesh.
Mr Ravinder Makhaik, Director of the company says, “growing steadily, Netgen is a debt-free, profit-making company. A healthy mix of domestic and international businesses, with sound financials, gives the company strength to take up more challenging projects. Our portfolio of government projects is making good progress.”
Founded as a 1 lakh authorized capital company and with annual revenues rising at a 25 % compounded annual growth rate, the Netgen Board of Directors has decided to expand the authorized capital of the company to Rs 10 lakh to meet future growth needs.
A young leader’s activism combined with the concept of ‘Himachaliyat’ and ‘Virbhadra Singh Vikas Model’ may be a gamechanger for the Congress in Himachal
Paradox in Hatti Community’s Demand for Tribal Status
HP Govt Employees to Get Higher Pay Scale on Completion of Two Years of Service: CM Jairam
Most Covid Restrictions to be Lifted From March 31, Mask and Hand Hygiene to Continue
Home Decor Ideas 2020
