The continuing tiff over the construction of a guest house near Dam Kothi in Haridwar between Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand has taken a new turn after Haridwar- Roorkee Development Authority (HRDA) sealed the guest house being constructed by the Uttar Pradesh irrigation department for the past several months on the bank of Ganga on Wednesday, citing that it was being built without taking permission from HRDA. However UP irrigation department has taken strong exception to the action, claiming that it had completed all the formalities before the construction had started. Refuting the claim, HRDA officers said that the map of the construction has not been approved by them. The row was started a few months ago when the Member of Parliament and the former chief Minister of Uttarakhand Bhagat Singh Koshiyari had expressed concern over the construction, saying that it might pose a security threat to Dam Kothi standing in its vicinity where VVIPs from across the country stay, a concern which the irrigation department of the neighbouring state rejected, saying that the apprehension was unfounded.
A HRDA team comprising engineers and officers sealed the guest house on Wednesday following an instruction from the secretary HRDA Banshidhar Tiwari.
Speaking to The Pioneer, Tiwari said, “The construction work by the UP irrigation department was not going on as per the map.
Besides, the map was not approved by our department. Taking note of it, we sent them a notice. As no response came our team has sealed it.”
Notably, the UP irrigation Minister Dharam Pal Yadav had inspected the under -construction guest house last month and expressed anguish over the absence of an approved map.
He had also directed the officials concerned to make the map and have it approved promptly, an instruction which was apparently not acted upon.