‘19 hotels built on forest land in Ranthambore and Sariska’

Jaipur: The issue of illegal constructions of hotels on encroached forest land in Ranthambore and Sariska national tiger reserves was raised in state assembly on Saturday. National People’s Party legislator Kirori Lal Meena produced a list of 19 hotels that have encroached upon the reserved land of the two national reserves and were running commercial activities in the violation of the Supreme Court orders.

Meena mentioned 65 hotels and said that he had documents to prove that at least 19 of them are encroaching on forest land in Sariska and Ranthambore.

He also mentioned Ajabgarh in Sariska accused the hotel owner of grabbing land reserved for a dam. He accused the government of being in connivance with hotel owners. Meena demanded action against officials who turned a blind eye to these encroachments.

Meena said that hotels and commercial establishments like Aman Bagh, Sariska Palace and Dayaram House have been constructed on reserved forest land. Likewise, hotels constructed on reserved land in Ranthambore include Aman-E-Khas, Sher Bhag, and Oberai. Commercial activities are also being allowed illegally at some places including Fateh Public School and Jhoomar Bawari.

“Some of these hotels are owned by politicians, so no action is being taken against them by the government. These hotels violate orders of the Supreme Court and the Rajasthan high court. The guilty officials should be brought to book,” Meena said in the assembly.