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| Officials drop name of 'influential' mall from sealing list, owner eyes Rs 70 cr profit | | | Early Times Report
Srinagar, Dec 14: In contravention of the recent High Court directives that shopping complexes without parking in the basement be sealed, the authorities have ostensibly "dropped" the name of a freshly constructed mall near Lal Chowk from the list. The mall owner eyes Rs 70 crore initial business from the sale of shops therein.
Officials sources said the name of recently constructed mall, with around 50 shops, near the new Budshah Bridge towards Maisuma side, was deliberately deleted from the list for sealing only because the mall owner has allegedly spent millions in the corridors of power to ensure that authorities don't mention his name in the "tainted list".
"This is because, if the name of this building was mentioned it would open Pandora's box of troubles for SMC. It would need to be demolished and axe would fall on enforcement officials who allowed its construction," the officials said.
Major work on the construction was completed in the last four to five months while each shop is up for sales at the initial bid of Rs one to 1.5 crores. The four storey mall in question, lies at a stone's throw from the office of the Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Asgar Samoon and is almost visible from his office.
Sources said the officials resorted to fraud in the grant of permission for the construction, as the mandatory Ribbon Development Act, which is a must for constructions in commercial areas, was not enforced nor he was asked to construct parking.
"In this busy area, any new construction needs to be 165 feet away from the center of the road. But in this case the building was allowed to be constructed right along the main road without leaving the mandatory gap," said a Town Planner in know of the matter.
Ironically, the buildings which were constructed in 90s in the neighborhood of this mall, have maintained the gap towards the main road. "But this building has violated all norms," the officials admitted.
Sources said even though Chief Engineer R&B was informed about the violation of the Ribbon Development Act, he remained silent. "R&B Chief Engineer is bound to ensure that any new construction along the main road adheres to the Ribbon Development Act. But given the enormous corruption in the construction of this mall, he was asked to be silent," the officials said.
Sources said the permission for this construction was granted last year. "But following allegations that the Ribbon Development Act was being brazenly violated the orders were put in abeyance while the work was stopped.. However after the formation of the new Government, the work gained momentum," the sources said.
As of now, the mall is ready for inauguration while most of the shops have been sold. "Such a building will always be bottleneck in the smooth flow of traffic, enforcement officials must be taken to task for negligence on their part," said a lawyer.
People whose malls have been sealed appealed the High Court to look into the "favoritism", which the authorities have adopted in sealing of the buildings. "Sealing has been done on pick and choose basis. Non influential buildings have been sealed whereas influential people have been spared," they said praying to the High Court to look into the matter. The concerned have sought probe into the working of the SMC and the R&B.
In November 2014, the Division Bench of High Court comprising Justice M H Attar and Justice Ali Muhammad Magrey had directed the SMC to initiate action against 47 shopping mall owners. The name of the mall in question, nowhere finds mention in the list. |
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