Himani Chamunda temple faces neglect

Our Correspondent

Palampur, March 6

Senior BJP leader and former MLA Parveen Sharma has regretted the delay in renovation and reconstruction of the Himani Chamunda temple, a historical ancient monument and real picture of hill architecture, which was destroyed in a fire three years ago.

Addressing mediapersons here today, he said despite his repeated requests no steps were initiated by the government to reconstruct the temple which is worshipped by thousands of persons every year.

He said Kangra MP Shanta Kumar had announced the release of Rs 30 lakh from his MPLAD fund for the construction of the path from the helipad to the temple and washrooms in the temple complex, but no government agency had come forward so far to receive the money and take the responsibility.

The MLA said the area was represented by Urban Development Minister Sudhir Sharma, but he was not serious about getting the temple rebuilt in its original shape.

Though he had promised with the public to get the entire complex rebuilt, he did little in the past two years.

He said the minister should respect the public sentiments and allocate funds for the reconstruction of the temple.

Parveen Sharma said the BJP government in 2011 had planned to develop the temple on the pattern of the Vashno Devi temple and decided to allocate funds from Asian Development Bank, which had given money to the state for the expansion and development of tourism.

He regretted that the ruling Congress government had shelved the plan. He said no politics should come into play in such religious matters and the CM should intervene and allocate funds without any delay.

It may be recalled that the Himani Chamunda temple is situated at the height of 11,000 feet above seal level in a Dhauladhar range near Palampur. Recently, a private aviation company started a heli taxi service to this temple.