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| Tara Chand’s crackdown turns out to be administrative terrorism | | Housing Commissioner taken for a ride to browbeat tourist resort developers | | Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
SRINAGAR, Sep 18: Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand’s crackdown on the developers of a tourist village at Kralsangri, in close vicinity of Ghulam Nabi Azad’s dream project of Indira Gandhi Tulip Garden, has turned out to be the state government’s mechanism to blackmail a group of entrepreneurs who have duly obtained permission for creating a heritage resort on 109 Kanals of proprietary land from none other than Mr Azad’s government in 2008. Like in the matter of raising a couple of guest houses behind UNMOGIP and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s residence, a court of law has stayed Mr Tara Chand’s plans to cancel the permission and directed the authorities not to create any impediments in the lawful constructions.
On September 2nd, Commissioner-Secretary Housing & Urban Development, Abdul Hamid, had visited Kralsangri area alongwith Vice Chairman of Lakes and Waterways Development Authority (LAWDA), Irfan Yasin, Vice Chairman Srinagar of Development Authority, Syed Kifayat Hussain Rizvi, Commissioner of Srinagar Municipal Corporation, Tufail Matoo, Director Local Bodies, Mohammad Abbas Dar, and incharge Chief Town Planner, Iftikhar Ahmed Hakeem, and directed LAWDA authorities to initiate proceedings for cancellation of all building permissions in that particular area.
Deputy Chief Minister, Tara Chand, who happens to be the Minister incharge Housing & Urban Development, had proudly owned up the operation and asserted that the crackdown on “unauthorized constructions” had been ordered by him. He had claimed to have received complaints according to which a former Chief Town Planner and incharge VC LAWDA, Mir Naseem, had issued No Objection Certificates (NOCs) from Town Planning Organisation and LAWDA days before his retirement last year and LAWDA’s Building Operations and Control Authority (BOCA) had issued permission on the basis of same NOCs.
In hours of the official team’s inspection, Government had said in a press release that BOCA had issued “vague” permission for construction of 28 huts. It had further said that the official team had noticed “ecological vandalisation” and violation of several laws and master plan.
With a court of law staying the government’s plan of cancellation of all building permissions in Kralsangri area, it has now dramatically surfaced that Mr Tara Chand and his subordinate departments had actually begun to harass and blackmail the developers of the tourist resort with an objective to extort money and other favours from them. All of their documents regarding the permission have been found in place and the permission by LAWDA’s BOCA has been found to have been issued after receiving NOCs from all the concerned departments and authorities.
According to the documents available with Early Times, LAWDA’s BOCA has cleared the proposal of raising the tourist resort in its 37th meeting on 4-06-2008 only after receiving NOCs from the competent authorities in Revenue i.e. DC Srinagar and Assistant Commissioner Nazool Srinagar, Chief Town Planner Kashmir, Executive Engineer Lake Division 2nd of LAWDA, Executive Engineer PHE Division Srinagar, Executive Engineer Sewerage & Drainage Division of Urban Environmental Engineering Department and Executive Engineer Electric Inspections Division Srinagar.
LAWDA has subsequently issued the building permission vide Order No: 54-Bldg/LDA of 2008 dated 12-06-2008 only after the applicants, as directed vide No: LWDA-117/2029 dated 6-06-2008, deposited an amount of Rs 35,59,310-00 on account of building permission fee vide Receipt No: 1311004 dated 10-06-2008. Permission has been issued for construction of 26 houses on built up area of 78,800 sft.
General Manager District Industries Centre Srinagar has also registered M/S Eco-Tourists Medical Adventurous Resort, Watta Sangri, Gagan Bagh (Nishat) for the activity of Eco-Tourism under Medium Service Enterprise under No: GM/DIC/SGR/Reg/3051 on 25-08-2009 as the proposal has been found in conformity with the Master Plan of Greater Srinagar which provides for raising tourist villages in Kralsangri area.
Promoters of the tourist resort, Firdaus Developers and Construction Company, have given an undertaking to the state government that natural and biotic environment will be preserved in its original form and efforts would be made to further improve aesthetics of the area by planting local species of flora more than a million in number in consultation with the landscape architects. According to the undertaking, contours would be retained in their original form and all the irrigation and non-irrigation minors passing through the resort area would be preserved. A high caliber sewage treatment plant is also being constructed to ensure that sewerage did not cause any harm to the world famous Dal Lake.
“We are planning to develop the area as a sprawling tourist resort which will be a unique heritage site. We intend to attract much expensive and luxury savvy Arab tourists who must get everything of Kashmir classical, from handicrafts to saffron, honey and dry fruit on one premises that too of assured quality”, said one of the promoters, Sheikh Ghulam Qadir. He said that his company had already acquired nearly 400 Kanals of the proprietary land and the resort would be ultimately laid on over 1500 Kanals of land.
Sheikh strongly refused pres reports and Government’s allegations that the land acquired included Forest area. He asserted that Forest Department had demarcated and fenced its area with chainlink over 40 years ago and there was no question of grabbing the forest land. He said that there was nothing but fallen and failed orchards on the land acquired and being acquired by his group. Sheikh claimed that his venture would directly provide employment to 5,000 youth, including 250 MBAs, and indirectly to 50,000 others.
While Mr Tara Chand did not respond to phone calls, Commissioner-Secretary H&UD, Abdul Hamid, said that a committee had been constituted by the government and it would soon submit its report whether the permission issued was lawful or otherwise. He said that a court had lately stayed Government’s action in this matter.
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