Sakchi Serai, the tourist resort. Picture by Srinivas

Jamshedpur, July 11: A Rs 5-crore spanking new tourist resort at Sakchi is sitting idle since last November, all because the district administration has not been able to remove unauthorised shops that have come up near its entrance.

JTDC manager (administration) Alok Prasad said the state tourism department had completed the construction of Sakchi Serai, the tourist resort, last November and handed it over to Jharkhand Tourism Development Corporation in the same month to start running it.

But due to unauthorised shops operating out of tin sheds near the Serai entrance, the resort’s boundary wall could not be built.

“At least 10 unauthorised shops are running their businesses on the plot of the tourist department. When we found out about the encroachment, we wrote to the East Singhbhum district administration, but no steps were taken,” Prasad said.

He said they had written to the district administration again in this regard, requesting that the shops be removed to pave the way for constructing the boundary wall.

Before being renovated into a plush three-storied building, the Serai was a dilapidated government-run guesthouse. As the land in front of the guesthouse was vacant, Tibetan vendors used to set up makeshift stalls for woollens every winter.

When the plan to construct the Serai was finalised, the administration provided the Tibetans an alternative area in nearby Golmuri to conduct their business.

But surprisingly, the administration hasn’t taken steps to remove the unauthorised shops.

Additional deputy commissioner of East Singhbhum Vijay Kumar Sinha said he was unaware. “How can I know JTDC is facing an encroachment problem in its tourist resort project at Sakchi? No one told me about it. Sub-divisional officer at Dhalbhum will be a better person to speak on the matter,” he said.

When SDO of Dhalbhum Kartik Kumar Prabhat was contacted, like Sinha, he too pleaded ignorance. “Let JTDC approach me first, only then will I see to it,” said Prabhat.

Local Congress MLA Banna Gupta, however, appeared ready to act. He said he would approach deputy commissioner Ravindra Kumar Agrawal to remove the unauthorised shopkeepers.

“If Agrawal fails, I will approach the governor. If he fails, I will launch an agitation to remove the encroachers,” he promised.