Activists say people’s struggle, not divine wrath, stopped Ski Village project in Kullu
Photo used for indicative purpose only. Source: Internet
Kullu/Shimla, Nov 1
A fresh public debate has erupted in Kullu Valley following the grand Dev Sansad Jagti at Naggar, where 229 deities from Kullu, Lahaul, and Mandi congregated to express anger over environmental degradation, tampering with sacred sites, and neglect of cows. While the Deo Samaj attributed the suspension of major development projects like the Ski Village to divine intervention, the Himalaya Niti Abhiyan (HNA) and Janjagran Manch have asserted that the project was cancelled due to years of public resistance and legal action, not divine displeasure.
HNA convener Guman Singh, along with former Janjagran Manch president Lal Chand Katoch and general secretary Dr. Pushpal Chand Thakur, said the Ski Village project was annulled after an 11-year legal fight that culminated in a 2018 Himachal Pradesh High Court judgment. “It was not the wrath of the deities but the people’s consistent struggle and legal battle that stopped the project,” Singh said. He alleged that those now invoking divine opposition were the same individuals who had earlier supported the developers and the government promoting the Ski Village and Bijli Mahadev Ropeway.
HNA leaders claimed that attempts are being made to politicize religious sentiments, asserting that environmental protection requires activism and judicial intervention rather than symbolic assemblies. “Those who once called the Bijli Mahadev Ropeway a ‘dream project’ are now invoking divine will for political mileage,” Singh said.
Environmentalists associated with the HNA said timber logs have recently appeared in streams around the former Ski Village and Bijli Mahadev areas, indicating that trees were felled before public protests halted further work. They linked such deforestation to recurring natural calamities in the region.
Meanwhile, Chhadibardar Maheshwar Singh, custodian of Lord Raghunath, maintained that the deities’ gathering was an expression of divine concern over human actions disturbing nature’s balance.
The latest Jagti has thus reignited the long-standing debate in Himachal Pradesh — whether the state’s fragile Himalayan ecology is being protected by divine will or by the determined struggle of its people.
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