HYDERABAD: Telangana State Tourism Development Corporation Limited (TSTDCL) has sealed Snow World at Lower Tank Bund for failing to pay the lease rent and other charges that have over time accumulated to Rs 16.70 crore. A team of officials from the Tourism Department descended on Snow World and sealed the premises on Thursday.
According to the TSTDCL, the management failed to clear the pending dues despite the slapping of notices. “The premises would be opened for the public only after all the dues are cleared,” said a senior TSTDCL official.
According to sources, the TSTDCL issued a termination of lease notice a few months ago. In the notice, it was mentioned that the agreement with the management would be cancelled, if the accumulated dues of Rs 16.70 crore are not cleared.
To promote tourism and develop different projects under the Public-Private-Partnership mode, the State government has sanctioned valuable and strategically located lands to different private companies. Under this initiative, Prasad Imax, Expotel Hotel, Daspalla Hotel, Jalvihar and others were developed on government lands.
Though the leaseholders have developed projects on these lands, some of them are not paying the annual lease amount and the share of revenue to the government as per the agreement and have approached courts for various reasons. They are continuing operations in government lands causing financial loss to the exchequer, TSTDCL sources said.