Decades-Old Tibetan Market in Kasauli faces eviction
By Tsering Choephel
DHARAMSALA, 11 July: Shopkeepers in Kasauli’s decades-old Pine Mall, popularly known as the Tibetan market has been issued notice to vacant in 10 days by the army, the Indian Express reported.
The Kasauli army cantonment has issued the order under relevant sections of the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971 after a case was filed by a local resident at Shimla high court over encroachment, claiming that as many as 21 shops have been built illegally, the report added.
The order to vacate notice has been “put outside the illegal shops” with the warning of “use of force” if the shopkeepers failed to comply.
“All the required arrangements are being made to ensure the success of this anti-encroachment drive. The law and order situation will be taken care of by the concerned agencies”, the report quoted an official of the Kasauli Cantonment as saying.
The deadline given to shopkeepers to vacate is by 20 July, failing which an eviction by force is avowed by the army.
According to the report, other shopkeepers in the heritage market alleged that the sellers at the Tibetan market don’t pay a single penny while making huge profits from illegally built shops.
“We have been paying rent to the cantonment board for our shops, but no rent or fees is being charged from the shopkeepers of the Tibetan market,” a shopkeeper at Heritage market has rued.
Kasauli is a small hill town in the Solan district of Himachal Pradesh. With Victorian architectural leftovers from British colonial times, Church, Monkey temples and busy markets, it attracts plenty of tourists every year.
