Uttarakhand may be the perfect getaway for those wanting to escape the scorching summer.
But the state's chief minister, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, is feeling the heat even in the cool climes of the hill state.
He is under the scanner for allegedly changing the land use of a 15- acre industrial plot worth Rs 400 crore and handing it over to a real estate developer close to the ruling BJP for a paltry Rs 13 crore. In addition to this, the chief minister is understood to have waived the land- use change fee.
While the state government claims that the land use has been altered in accordance with the judgment of the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR), the Opposition is crying foul.
Terming it as the biggest land scam in the history of Uttarakhand, the leader of the Opposition, Harak Singh Rawat, has demanded a CBI inquiry and asked Nishank to resign on moral grounds.
The land under the scanner is a sick industry site located in Rishikesh. In 1960, the Mumbaibased Nowrosjee Wadia & Sons Pvt Ltd obtained a 50.47- acre tract on Veer Bhadra Road in the holy city to set up Sturdia Chemicals Ltd. The company was engaged in the production of calcium carbonate till the late 1990s.
A ban on limestone quarrying forced the factory to shut down.
The BIFR declared Sturdia Chemicals sick in 2004. It is believed that even when the state was run by a Congress government, influential realtors tried to lay their hands on the prized land, located in the heart of Rishikesh.
Though their efforts are said to have come a cropper then, they appear to have finally succeeded under the current dispensation.
The industrial land of Sturdia Chemicals Ltd has now been allegedly granted to Sturdia Developers Pvt Ltd - not associated with the Wadia family - for the construction of a residential and commercial arcade. Experts say that just the fee for a change in land use from industrial to residential would work out to at least Rs 120 crore for Sturdia Developers Pvt Ltd.
But the BJP has dismissed the allegation that the Sturdia land deal caused a loss of Rs 400 crore to the state exchequer. Party leader and state parliamentary affairs minister Prakash Pant told the media in Dehradun recently: "It is an absolutely false notion that (the land use change of the Sturdia Ltd plot from industrial to residential) has caused a loss of Rs 400 crore to the state exchequer because the land does not belong to the government."
The minister seems to be unaware of the fact that on June 19, 1961, Sturdia Chemicals Ltd inked an agreement with the Uttar Pradesh government. The pact clearly stated that the state government had acquired the land for establishing a calcium carbonate factory. It said: "The company and its successor will use the land for the aforesaid purpose and no other purpose without the previous sanction in writing from the state government."
The deal proves that the state government (now of Uttarakhand) has the final say in the issue.
Rawat alleged that Nishank was directly involved in the scam and said: "In a letter to the CM dispatched on Monday, I have written that the image of Uttarakhand has taken a beating because of the controversial allotment of small hydro power projects and the Rishikesh land scam. I have sought a CBI probe into the matter."
The Haridwar Development Authority (HDA) reportedly approved the site map prepared by Sturdia Developers Pvt Ltd for its Ganga Residency housing complex at Rishikesh in October 2009.
HDA vice-chairman Anand Vardhan said: "The map was approved in October last year. Every construction company making commercial projects needs to register with the HDA. However, in the case of the said company, the Uttarakhand government decided to waive the registration fees."
But the state's chief minister, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, is feeling the heat even in the cool climes of the hill state.
He is under the scanner for allegedly changing the land use of a 15- acre industrial plot worth Rs 400 crore and handing it over to a real estate developer close to the ruling BJP for a paltry Rs 13 crore. In addition to this, the chief minister is understood to have waived the land- use change fee.
While the state government claims that the land use has been altered in accordance with the judgment of the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR), the Opposition is crying foul.
Terming it as the biggest land scam in the history of Uttarakhand, the leader of the Opposition, Harak Singh Rawat, has demanded a CBI inquiry and asked Nishank to resign on moral grounds.
The land under the scanner is a sick industry site located in Rishikesh. In 1960, the Mumbaibased Nowrosjee Wadia & Sons Pvt Ltd obtained a 50.47- acre tract on Veer Bhadra Road in the holy city to set up Sturdia Chemicals Ltd. The company was engaged in the production of calcium carbonate till the late 1990s.
A ban on limestone quarrying forced the factory to shut down.
The BIFR declared Sturdia Chemicals sick in 2004. It is believed that even when the state was run by a Congress government, influential realtors tried to lay their hands on the prized land, located in the heart of Rishikesh.
Though their efforts are said to have come a cropper then, they appear to have finally succeeded under the current dispensation.
The industrial land of Sturdia Chemicals Ltd has now been allegedly granted to Sturdia Developers Pvt Ltd - not associated with the Wadia family - for the construction of a residential and commercial arcade. Experts say that just the fee for a change in land use from industrial to residential would work out to at least Rs 120 crore for Sturdia Developers Pvt Ltd.
But the BJP has dismissed the allegation that the Sturdia land deal caused a loss of Rs 400 crore to the state exchequer. Party leader and state parliamentary affairs minister Prakash Pant told the media in Dehradun recently: "It is an absolutely false notion that (the land use change of the Sturdia Ltd plot from industrial to residential) has caused a loss of Rs 400 crore to the state exchequer because the land does not belong to the government."
The minister seems to be unaware of the fact that on June 19, 1961, Sturdia Chemicals Ltd inked an agreement with the Uttar Pradesh government. The pact clearly stated that the state government had acquired the land for establishing a calcium carbonate factory. It said: "The company and its successor will use the land for the aforesaid purpose and no other purpose without the previous sanction in writing from the state government."
The deal proves that the state government (now of Uttarakhand) has the final say in the issue.
Rawat alleged that Nishank was directly involved in the scam and said: "In a letter to the CM dispatched on Monday, I have written that the image of Uttarakhand has taken a beating because of the controversial allotment of small hydro power projects and the Rishikesh land scam. I have sought a CBI probe into the matter."
The Haridwar Development Authority (HDA) reportedly approved the site map prepared by Sturdia Developers Pvt Ltd for its Ganga Residency housing complex at Rishikesh in October 2009.
HDA vice-chairman Anand Vardhan said: "The map was approved in October last year. Every construction company making commercial projects needs to register with the HDA. However, in the case of the said company, the Uttarakhand government decided to waive the registration fees."
No comments:
Post a Comment