Dehradun cancels registration of 103 homestays violating rules

Dehradun district administration has cancelled registrations of 103 homestays on Sunday following extensive inspections, revealing violations of safety norms and operational guidelines, officials said.

The action arrives after five magistrate teams under the 'Operation Safai' inspected 153 homestays across the district, targeting establishments violating the Uttarakhand Homestay Rules, they said.

Officials revoked 17 registrations in the first phase, 79 in the second, and seven in the third. The administration also started the process to delete these non-compliant properties from the official state tourism website.

According to the officials, inspections revealed that wealthy urban owners ran these properties commercially as hotels rather than authentic homestays.

Many operators leased out the properties and left them managed without the mandatory physical presence of the owner. The crackdown followed a surge in criminal activities, drunk driving, over-speeding, and public firearm discharge in the city.

During the investigations, the police traced these disturbances to individuals staying at commercialised homestays that operated ''illegal round-the-clock bars'', played loud music, and transformed into hubs for ''unlawful activities'', they said.

Many units lacked basic kitchen arrangements and mandatory food licences required for commercial operations. Several facilities operated without fire-extinguishing equipment or possessed expired fire safety certificates.

Establishments operated rooms beyond their authorised capacity and used properties as commercial wedding venues, defeating the original policy objective of promoting local culture and cuisine, they said.

Inspectors flagged previous instances where homestays failed to submit mandatory Form-C details for foreign guests. Multiple registered properties were non-operational during the surprise visits by the magistrate teams.

The district administration formed area-wise committees to inspect properties, specifically in Sahaspur and Raipur areas, which identified 103 non-compliant properties and recommended immediate cancellation of their licences, they added.

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