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| Finally, Govt leases out Pahalgam huts to influential family | | Tourism players up in arms, demand probe | | Follow-Up
Early Times Report
Srinagar, Oct 22: The State Government has leased out prized huts at the Pahalgam Golf Course to an influential business family, drawing flak from the people associated with tourism industry.
Over dozen high-end huts have been leased out to the family for mere Rs 2.5 crore by the Pahalgam Development Authority (PDA).
Early Times had reported earlier this month about the Government plan to lease out the huts.
The tourism players are up in arms against the deal, saying that the picturesque huts should have been leased out after open bidding and not secretly.
"This secret deal means loss of millions of rupees to the State exchequer. Firstly, there was no need to lease out these huts. If they had to be leased out, it should have been through open bid in a transparent manner," a veteran tourism player told Early Times.
Sources said some senior officials of the Tourism Department, in league with a PDP Minister, hatched the plan for leasing out the huts when Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed visited Pahalgam to inaugurate Pahalgam club.
"Mufti was misled by the Tourism officials that the lease was aimed at revenue generation," said an insider privy to the deal.
Sources said the senior PDP Minister wants to create his rapport in the business community by showering undue incentives on them. "Earlier, this month the Minister got some of the prime spaces of SMC in Srinagar handed over to some business families for erection of commercial hoardings in the garb of maintenance of the sites. Now he is getting the prize tourist destinations leased out," the sources said.
They said the Chief Executive Officer PDA Riyaz Ahmed in league with a senior official in the Tourism Department finalized the draft for the lease of the Pahalgam huts while he personally signed the documents on behalf of the Government.
It is the second controversial deal in Pahalgam this year. In June, the Government leased out the famed Betab valley, a picturesque spot in Pahalgam, to a business family.
That time also the PDA gave away the site for mere Rs 7 crore, though the location was expected to fetch revenue of at least Rs 24 crore. Soon after the Betab valley lease, the entry fee to valley was hiked nine-fold by virtue of which the businessman could gain nine times more profit than expected from the deal.
Eyebrows are being raised over the conduct of PDA's CEO who claims to be close relative of a senior PDP Minister in the Cabinet.
When contacted, a senior PDA official confirmed that the Pahalgam Golf Course huts have been leased out.
"This is no shady deal but done in total transparency," the official claimed but failed to give any convincing details.
Meanwhile, the tourism players have appealed CM Mufti and the Vigilance Commissioner to look into the matter and get the deal revoked.
"Why should the Government sell our prime resources to appease influential families? This national wealth should lie with the Government itself," said a tourism player. |
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