Udaipur. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has sued the state government, including the Udaipur and Rajsamand District Collectors, the operators of the Mementos Hotel and Resort, for stopping the flow of river-drain in the Raya area on the Udaipur-Rajsamand district border and damaging the catchment area by building a road in the river. Issuing notices to other departments have summoned their replies.
The next hearing of the case is on April 20. On the petition filed by the affected villagers, the Central Zone batch of NGT has directed the hotel and resort to Valencia HG Eserz Developers, HG Eserz Director Vijendra Chaudhary, Udaipur Collector, Rajsamand Collector, State Government’s Water Resources Department, Environment Department, Mines Department and the concerned responsibilities. Notices have been issued to The management of the hotel resort is in the hands of ITC Group.
The villagers alleged that the river flow was stopped due to encroachment of the natural river by the hotel owners and construction of a road. Anicut was raised to stop the flow of river water. As the Gandhara Sagar pond could not be filled due to the stoppage of the river, thousands of villagers faced a water crisis for drinking water and irrigation. The villagers depend on this river. It is also alleged that illegal mining was also done without obtaining environmental clearance for the construction of the hotel resort. On complaining about this, the administration and the concerned departments did not take any action.
The villagers have demanded to bring back the old form of the river by removing the filling put in the flow of the river. Let us tell you that Mementol Hotel & Resort, located on the border of village Ghati ka Math in village Raya in Panchayat Kailashpuri of Udaipur and Panchayat Ghodach in Rajsamand district, has been started operation by ITC Group on March 25 itself.