However talking to TIWN in regard of the order of court State Tourism Department Minister Ratan Bhowmik indicated that that after completion all necessary requirements the state govt. would move to the High Court challenging the order of the lower division court.

Minister on Tuesday also told to TIWN over phone, “It is not the matter of proper maintenance rather there are some problems with papers and documents related to the handover of Neer Mahal and Rudrasagar.”

According to the sources Bibhu Kumari Devi had only inducted the Neer Mahal and the Rudrasagar to the state govt. so that it is properly maintained but the Left front government had illegally captured the property in their name and using it were on a spree collecting hefty taxes from the tourists. Following which the state govt. had failed to prepare the property documents and papers.

State govt.’s tentative plan to move to the higher court has now become a matter of concern because if the HC issues a stay to the lower court order than neither the royal family nor the State government can take the Neer Mahal and Rudrasagar in their hand.

During the year 1974 merger act Maharani Bibbhu Kumari Devi has handed over the land with the Tripura Left front government and had asked to maintain it with an aim to attract the tourists across the nation and others. But allegedly the state govt. has so far failed to provide a proper look to the Neer Mahal spreading over 6.01 acres and Rudra Sagar spreading over 26.61 acres which were part of Maharaj Kirit Bikram Kishore Manikya’s personnel properties once.

The property ownership was later given to Bibhu Kumari Devi before the death of Maharaja Kirit Bikram Kishore Manikya by signing a will.

The water palace in Tripura second of its kind in India has currently turned to a debris. Currently a retrofitting work is undergoing at Neer Mahal undertaken by the state govt. the work was supposed to be completed by May 2015, but after some of the dooms of Neer Mahal demolished during the ongoing work the work delayed, said Bhowmik on Tuesday.

Minister also said, “The retrofitting work of Neer Mahal would be completed by the month of June this year.”

Advocate Deb Ranjan Chowdhury who moved the case in favour of the petitioner Bibhu Kumari Devi pointed out the government is collecting money by leasing Rudra Sagar for pisiculture, which was not completely against the will of late Maharaja. “Thus the properties must be given to the original owner as the government could not fulfil the conditions laid down by the former Maharaja”, he argued.

However controversy erupted with the royal family to take their own property back from the state govt. as per the court’s order. But what matters is the attraction of the tourists now. Because as these are now public property the Neer Mahal and its view of Rudrasagar lake likely to fail to attract tourists. 

According to the 1949 merger agreement, Neermahal is the personal property of the royal family. He said the palace and lake still draw thousands of visitors every year despite the poor condition of the lake which has become shallow because of heavy deposit of silt.