Residents of Bijli Mahadev launch campaign to stop ropeway project
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Kullu: Ahead of its planned protest march, the Bijli Mahadev Ropeway Sangharsh Samiti (BMRSS) on Tuesday launched a village-to-village campaign to unite the residents against the ropeway project that is planned to come up on the scenic and sacred meadows of the Bijli Mahadev temple in Kullu district.
Led by Suresh Negi, president, BMRSS, the committee members on Tuesday visited Pechha village near Bijli Mahadev and sought residents' help in opposing the ropeway project and to not let the govt convert their "place of faith into a tourist spot".
The committee is planning to visit not only the villages of the Kullu valley but also the neighbouring Parvati valley to raise awareness about the environmental harms such a project can cause in Bijli Mahadev, a place of pilgrimage for the locals.
"Our ongoing campaign is taking the shape of a mass movement against the ropeway project, which was finalised by the govt by ruthlessly ignoring the faith of the people and by keeping aside all the environmental concerns. Even Lord Bijli Mahadev has said no to this project but still the govt is adamant," said Negi. "The people of Kullu are uniting against the ropeway project, which is sure to destroy our sacred place of faith by converting it into a tourist spot.
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Bijli Mahadev is not for sale and if needed we are ready to give our lives to save Bijli Mahadev," he said, adding that a massive protest would be held in Kullu on July 25.
The residents of Kharal valley, which lies at the foothills of the Bijli Mahadev temple, have been holding agitations against the ropeway project for more than two years.
They believe that the 2.4-km-long ropeway project would destroy the meadows of Bijli Mahadev, which is located at an altitude of around 2,460 metres.
The meadows of Bijli Mahadev have been cracking up at several places and locals say that the ropeway project, which is to be built at an estimated cost of Rs 284 crore with a capacity of 36,000 passenger trips per day, would completely destroy the area.
So far, no politician, neither from the Congress nor from the BJP, has come out in support of the residents, who kicked off the latest rounds of protests in the first week of this month when as many as 67 deodar trees were cut for the project by the National Highways Logistics Management Limited, which is building the ropeway.
The angry residents last week forcefully stopped the tree-felling work in the Bijli Mahadev forest and have not allowed the transportation of timber.
As per the project details, a total of 203 trees will be cut and around 3.1 hectares of forest land will be diverted for the project. "They came like thieves in the night and cut our trees when no one was watching. But we will not let this happen again. The villagers living near Bijli Mahadev have a right over the forest land and its trees under the Forest Rights Act.
No prior permission was taken from the FRA committee to cut the trees.
This fact makes it a crime," said Fateh Rana, general secretary, BMRSS.
Rana said most of the panchayats of the Kharal valley had already given in writing that they have not provided a no-objection certificate (NOC) for the project. "Six panchayats have written to us saying they did not give NOCs and the rest will follow suit. If there was no NOC then how come this project was cleared?" Rana asked.
When contacted, conservator, Kullu Forest Circle, Sandeep Sharma said all the requisite permissions for the project were in place.
"This project has received stage-1 in-principal permission from the environment ministry. But since it's a linear project, the work can start before the stage-2 or the final permission. The project developer has already submitted the costs, including of trees to be cut and the environmental compensation for the forest land to be diverted for the project," said Sharma.
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