Members of the hotel association of McLeodganj and Dharamshalamet Urban Development Minister Sarveen Choudhary and sought resolution of various issues facing them.
It was a very good meeting. The government has appointed expert panel comprising advocates and IAS officers for reviewing the town and country planning (TCP) Act and considering our demands such as revised Floor Area Ratio (FAR), separate FAR for residential and hotels and commercial buildings, increasing the limit of building heights," Secretary of the hotel association of Kangra, Sanjeev Gandhi, told PTI after the meeting here late yesterday.
"She also directed the officers of Municipal Corporation (MC) to clear the pending files of responses of the hotel owners for completion on priority... , he added.
Gandhi further said the height limits of the commercial buildings (in the new hotel policy of the state) have been set at 21 metres for those connected with 5-metre roads and 15 metres for those with 3-metre roads.
He said the width of the roads cannot be increased in this hill state, so how can the hotel industry flourish and expand?
"For hotels in Himachal Pradesh, the FAR is fixed at 1.7 whereas it is 3.5 in Delhi and 12-15 in Europe and US and even in Japan which is highly prone to earthquakes...It must be increased in Himachal to boost the tourism industry.
A government spokesperson said the UD Minister listened to the problems of the hoteliers and promised to look into the various issues raised.
Over 160 hotels in Dharamshala have been sealed recently due to illegal constructions.
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