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| Marriage season turns sour as halls close down in Jammu | | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
Jammu, Oct 29: The much-awaited marriage season has begun to turn sour in the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir as the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) has ordered closure of all non-licensed banquet halls following court directions.
Following an October 14 order of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, JMC has ordered the closure of more than 90 banquet halls that either did not have licences for operation or had violated building permission laws.
Disposing off a PIL on October 14, the Divisional Bench of the J and K High Court headed by Chief Justice Aftab H Saikia had ordered the implementation "in true letter and spirit" of building laws under the Statutory Regulation Order (SRO) to control the haphazard growth of banquet halls in Jammu.
Explaining the action taken on the court''s order, Joint Commissioner, JMC, S C Sahni said , "All the owners of banquet halls, who do not fulfill the requisite formalities under SRO and building laws governing community halls under Master Plan 2021, are directed not to use premises as eating point for functions with immediate effect".
Sahni said out of the more than 100 un-licensed and illegal banquet halls operating in Jammu city, only three have permission to operate, while some have applications pending for approval.
"These halls do not have the licenses for running as eating points (banquet halls). In case anyone violates the premises for the purpose of functions, it shall be sealed by JMC without serving any notice," he said.
As per the SRO 64 of Housing and Urban Development Ministry under Master Plan Jammu-2021, building byelaws governing community and banquet halls have a fixed minimum requirement of construction of a banquet hall in an area of two acres with 30 per cent of the coverage area, ten meters set backs, 12 meters height and 60 per cent green area, besides license from JMC with sanitation, power and water supply sanctions.
"This is the season of marriages and for almost the next four months these halls were always booked. But this time we will be unable to operate in view of the JMC order and court directions," an owner of several banquet halls said.
"We have paid back advance money to over 19 persons who had booked halls for weddings and tendered apologies to them," he said, adding, "this is a major loss to us and also to marriage organisers who are in the most difficulty now over where to organise the marriage". Shyam Lal Koul, who is marrying his son Arvind and daughter Sunita off on November 22, finds himself in major trouble after the banquet hall owner returned the advance money and cancelled the booking. "Where will we go? Where will we hold marriage? We are in a fix," Koul said.
Similar are the laments coming from other potential customers needing bookings in the halls to solemnize marriages of their wards. One of them said, “ Since the earlier tradition of holding a marriage in ones own house and then inviting relatives and friends at home or at an adjacent ground has turned obsolete”.
He also said that since a fashion has come up to book palatial houses for conducting marriages, resorting back to earlier traditional ways might leave an embarrassing impression as they are finding themselves in a fix as to how to manage the show.
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