Former minister and senior Congress leader Mantri Prasad Naithani has said that the people of Uttarakhand would not allow setting up of distilleries in the state. Reacting strongly to the state government’s decision to start liquor bottling plant in Devprayag, Naithani said that the project is against the ethos and religious beliefs of people of Devprayag which is a sacred place on confluence of Bhagirathi and Alaknanda rivers.
He clarified that the Harish Rawat government in which he was a minister had given licence of a bottling and fruit juice plant in Devprayag but after protest of local people the plan was shelved.
The former minister also criticised the state government for shifting the proposed NCC academy from Devprayag to Pauri. He said that 200 Nali of land was donated by people of Srikot -Malda in Devprayag and threatened that the academy would get shifted out of Devprayag over his dead body.