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| JK's biggest ever mall, flats coming up illegally in Srinagar | | | Hyderi Ali
Early Times Report
Srinagar, Mar 28: Breaking all previous records of Master Plan violations in Srinagar, the authorities here are allowing biggest ever illegal constructions as huge as 30,000 sft multi-storied malls and flatted accommodation in the summer capital.
At a time when the administration has been on toes in the Governor’s rule, the Srinagar Development Authority and the Srinagar Municipal Corporation, which are the main enforcing agencies for the Master Plan, seem to have scaled new heights of alleged corruption.
Near Nowgam crossing, on the Srinagar-Jammu highway, the SDA has allowed a private party to construct the "biggest ever shopping mall" in Jammu and Kashmir.
Sources said the SDA officials charged Rs 20 lakhs "Hafta" for every floor of the construction while three floors of this building were constructed in the last two months of Governor's rule.
Sources said the private party was allowed to violate the building permission norms through a "game plan whereby permission for construction of a three small buildings, not exceeding 3000 sft area, was allowed to be converted into the biggest ever mall."
"This all was preplanned. They were asked to take permission for the construction of small structures and subsequently misuse the permission for construction of the biggest mall," explained an insider in the SDA, asking not to be named.
Presently, three multistoried buildings have come up adjacent to each other with iron rods protruding out of the adjacent structures, a hint that the buildings were to be joined in the coming weeks.
"Basically, our bosses have asked them to initially construct three separate buildings and later merge them through concrete in between. This is why the rods are protruding out from there," admitted a lower rung official in the SDA, adding he was no party to the massive corruption in the office.
He said over the years corruption has been on record high in SDA but it all goes noticed as the successive regimes avoided any commission of inquiry in the development authority which in the past has served "safe-haven for extortionists".
But the illegal construction near Nowgam is not alone. Presently around one dozen malls are coming up illegally on the 17 KM highway stretch on south city, between Athwajan and Parimpora.
Same holds true for the Airport Road. In Humhama and adjoining Pir Bagh areas multistoried flatted accommodations as huge as 20,000 sft are coming up in wetlands and paddy fields in brazen violation of the High Court orders which have banned any such constructions.
Near railway bridge Humhama, the biggest flatted accommodation of Srinagar is under construction, half a kilometer away from the Airport Road, towards left.
Same is true towards adjoining Narkara wetland where huge flats are coming up, a few hundred meters away from the Police Headquarter. Another complex is coming up near Co-Operative Colony, just next to the PHQ.
This all is happening under the nose of the concerned authorities including police. A top police official said they had credible inputs that in the previous years the SMC granted sanction to building permissions in brazen violation of land. "This entire area is Aabi Awal which means the waterbody where High Court has banned the constructions. How come the SMC grants building permissions for Aabi Awal?" he asked, adding "It is a scam worth millions."
Sources said a police official who wanted to probe this scam was transferred from the area because the "land mafia has upper hand on the administration."
"It's a total mess, let the Governor constitute a high level team for probe into Master Plan violations to see for themselves how High Court orders are violated every now and then while many senior officials are party to such deals," said a civil society group, which is fighting for the cause of Srinagar.
Srinagar has been witnessing "worst ever" Master Plan violations since last year when the PDP-BJP came to power, while things further worsened after the demise of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.
Official sources said the major reason for the massive illegal constructions remained that the "some of the most corrupt officials were assigned the task of enforcement."
"There's a need for total revamp in the system of enforcement. Till the heads roll, things will continue to worsen," the sources said.
Despite repeated attempts the SDA officials didn't respond to phone calls. The SMC Commissioner Bashir Ahmed Khan, however, said that he has sealed the complex which was coming up at Nowgam.
"We have sealed the building. The permission was for 5000 sft but he had constructed 7000 sft," the Commissioner told Early Times.
To questions on the illegal constructions elsewhere, he said he would personally look into the matter. "I will visit all such areas," the Commissioner said. |
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