Uttarakhand: Congress demands removal of Garhwal IG, also raises questions on Kedarnath ropeway project
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Uttarakhand Congress State President Karan Mahara is once again in action mode. He has demanded the state government remove IG Garhwal Rajiv Swaroop from his post. He also criticized the government for awarding the Kedarnath ropeway project to the Adani Group. He also raised concerns about the Mussoorie-Gorakhpur Everest tender controversy.
Regarding the IG Garhwal Rajiv Swaroop case, Karan Mahara alleged that valuable land worth approximately ₹50 crore in the Roorkee area of Haridwar had been acquired using forged documents. An SIT was formed to investigate the matter. Following this, the Special Task Force (STF) arrested Manish Bowler, a former BJP councilor, on charges of selling the land using forged documents. On September 16, the STF arrested two police officers associated with the office of IG Garhwal. He alleged that Manish Bowler and the two officers had ties to notorious gangster Praveen Valmiki and that they had threatened a woman and her family from Sunhara. A conspiracy was hatched to sell the land by preparing fake documents in his name.
Karan Mahara asked the government who attached the two police officers with gangster ties from Pithoragarh to the office of IG Garhwal. The STF investigation also revealed that these officers used to talk to Manish Bowler four to five times daily. The Congress party alleges that the land scam, worth crores of rupees, is linked to high-profile individuals, which could be revealed through the call recordings of these officers.
The Congress party has demanded a thorough investigation of the phone call recordings of the two officers. Mahara expressed apprehension that some senior officer may have been communicating with Manish Bowler from their mobile phones. He demanded the government remove IG Garhwal Rajiv Swaroop from his post for a fair investigation. Karan Mahara said that the state is facing a flood of land scams.
Raised the issue of George Everest land: Karan Mahara also raised the issue of the lease of George Everest land near Mussoorie to Baba Ramdev’s associate Balkrishna. He called it a betrayal of the people of Uttarakhand. He stated that the government spent approximately 23 crore rupees on the maintenance and upkeep of George Everest, but it was handed over to a company associated with Acharya Balkrishna on a 15-year lease at a rate of only 1 crore rupees annually. He stated that Congress will soon organize a major march in protest against this.
Special favor to the Adani Group: Karan Mahara stated that the Dhami government is showing special favor to the Adani Group. Adani Enterprises Limited was awarded a contract worth 4081 crore rupees for the 13-kilometer ropeway project between Sonprayag and Kedarnath in Uttarakhand. This company has no experience in ropeway construction. Congress has also opposed the increased helicopter services, stating that this is causing significant damage to Uttarakhand’s environment. There should be a limit on flights so that the environment is not harmed.
