The illegal constructions are going on unimpeded across the city with the departments concerned apparently sleeping over the menace. Things are pretty bad in and around the Har ki Pauri, the heart of the pilgrim city. The locals say the administration is conveniently looking the other way with illegal construction of multi – storey buildings going unabated for over the past one year. Forest department, municipal corporation and Haridwar -Roorkee development authority are engaged in passing the buck to one another to shirk off their responsibility on the matter.
With the illegal construction at Har Ki Pauri near PWD guest house having resumed after around a month, the officials concerned have chosen to maintain studied silence. A former Nagar Nigam engineer said on condition that his name would not be disclosed that as per the Building Regulation Act, not a single brick can be laid on the construction site, sans approval from HRDA. locals allege that two officers have been transferred in recent past at the behest of unscrupulous politicians. This was because these officials dared to challenge those involved in illegal construction, they added. It may be mentioned that with tourist season peaking, a road runs along one side of the construction. Thousands of pilgrims, passengers and tourists use this stretch daily. On the other side of the construction, there are Northern Railway tracks. “A major accident can happen any time,” a local said.