Shimla, December 04: The Himachal Pradesh government Friday decided to issue a show cause notice to Ford Motor Company that is executing a multi-billion dollar Ski Village project in Manali for not fulfilling mandatory requirements, an official said here.
“The cabinet at its meeting this (Friday) evening decided to issue a show-cause notice to Ford Motor Company, which is setting up the Ski Village project in upper Manali (in Kullu district),” Chief Secretary Asha Swaroop told reporters.
“We have given time to the company to explain the reasons for not fulfilling mandatory requirements pointed out by the government,” she said.
She said the company had not submitted the detailed project report (DPR) yet to the government. The central government has also rejected the environment impact assessment report.
“The company had sent the environment impact assessment report to the central government for approval, which was rejected. After this, the company did not again apply. The government told it several times to fulfill the requirement, but there was no response,” Swaroop said.
“Even the state’s high-power committee comprising revenue, legal, tourism, forest and other officials expressed concern over local and social issues and issues related to environment,” she pointed out.
The committee, headed by Principal Secretary (Tourism) Manisha Nanda, visited the spot where the project is to be executed June 6, and heard the views and grievances of the locals.
The locals have asked the state government to scrap the project as it would not only affect the environment but also hit their livelihood.
–Agencies