The Hindu : J&K Govt. orders probe into `illegal construction'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Dec 06, 2002

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J&K Govt. orders probe into `illegal construction'

By Shujaat Bukhari

SRINAGAR DEC. 6. The Jammu and Kashmir Government has ordered a probe into the "illegal construction" of the official residences of the Chief Minister, the Director-General of Police and a guesthouse of the Jammu and Kashmir Bank in the Green Belt area here under the erstwhile regime.

"No one can go scot-free and we are here to fix the responsibility on those who have blatantly violated the rules and regulations for their personal comforts," the Housing and Urban Development Minister, Ghulam Hassan Mir, told The Hindu.

Taking a serious note of the "illegal construction" of huge mansions in the prohibited Green Belt area around the Dal Lake, he has appointed a three-member committee headed by the Divisional Commissioner of Kashmir, Parvez Dewan. "I have asked them to look into the fact how these buildings are coming up whether with permission or without,'' the Minister said adding that the report had to be submitted within two months. "Action will then follow and will not only expose those people but we will take them to task as well in accordance with the law."

Expressing serious concern over what he called "environmental terrorism", Mr. Mir said that every effort would be made to protect the lake and its adjoining areas. "It is to be seen who has given the permission, if not, then who has dared to go ahead with the plan throwing the rules to the winds of (Dal)," he said.

He had directed his Ministry to look into the violations around the lake as well so that it was free from interference. "Political clout has played an important role in the degeneration of the lake... What the Government is doing on the Dal project to save it is invisible and cannot be seen immediately unless accomplished," he observed.

The erstwhile National Conference Government, headed by Farooq Abdullah, had started construction on the office-cum-residence of the Chief Minister in the lap of picturesque mountains on the banks of the lake. It was to come up at the cost of Rs. 25 crores with all modern facilities and would look like a palace. Similarly, the official residence of the DGP and the Gazetted Officer's mess for the police department was also under construction in the Green Belt area, which is out of bounds for any construction. Similarly, the J & K Bank's chairman, M.Y. Khan, got a guesthouse constructed in the area.

However, soon after coming to power, the Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, ordered the construction of the Chief Minister's residence stopped saying "we cannot afford such a cost at this juncture". At the same time, the other constructions came under the net of the Housing Minister.

Meanwhile, the committee has issued notices to the Lakes and Waterways Development Authority and the Srinagar Municipality asking them to furnish details regarding the construction.

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