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| Without paying anything PDA encroaches upon forest land at Sarbal-Pahalgam | | No Objection Certificate yet to be received by Authority | |  Jehangir Rashid
Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, May 14: At a time when tremendous stress is being laid on the maintenance of ecological balance a development authority has encroached upon forest land at the world famous health resort of Pahalgam in South Kashmir's Anantnag district.
Early Times has learnt from sources that Pahalgam Development Authority (PDA) has encroached upon a huge expanse of land for its own use. The PDA has encroached upon the land without getting the necessary No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the concerned department.
"A huge expanse of forest land comprising of eight kanals of land has been encroached by PDA at Sarbal in the picturesque tourist spot of Pahalgam in South Kashmir. The PDA has not paid a single penny towards the concerned department and the NOC in this regard is yet to be received by the PDA," said sources.
Sources said that PDA has installed plant and machinery on the huge plot of forest land adding that same would be used for treatment of garbage dumped at the spot by the PDA. They said that concerned authorities are yet to come up to the expectations of people so that punitive action in this regard.
"On one side the state government claims that it stands by the preservation of forest cover and on the other free hand is given to the departments as well as agencies to encroach upon the forest land. The encroachment of forest land at Sarbal in Pahalgam is yet another example in this regard and the worst part is concerned stake holders are keeping mum on the issue," said sources.
Sources said that encroachment of forest land by PDA for treatment of garbage is a tip of the iceberg adding that in Pahalgam and adjacent areas encroachment of state or forest land has been going on like anything for years now. They said that action needs to be taken against the violators of law at the earliest so that further damage to forest land is avoided.
"The PDA is a government agency but still then it has bulldozed the environmental concerns at this world famous health resort. No payment has been made towards the Department of Forest by the agency and at the same time NOC is awaited. Given this situation how can one expect common masses to abide by rules and regulations?" said sources.
When contacted Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Lidder Forest Division, Feroz Ahmad said that he does not know anything about the encroachment by PDA at Sarbal, Pahalgam. He said that he would enquire about the matter from his officials and act if the need arises.
"I have joined as DFO Lidder Forest Division recently and as such I don't know anything about the issue raised by you. I would seek a report about the matter and if the need arises I would take the corrective measures accordingly," said Feroz. |
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