Land use violators face stern action in Srinagar

Srinagar, Nov 6 (UNI) The Srinagar Development Authority (SDA) has ordered owners of several buildings, including a shopping mall, a school and few hotels, which have come up in violation of the land use, other bye-laws and rules in the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, to demolish these structures immediately or face action.

The SDA Monitoring Cell, established for implementation of the master plan, building bye-laws and zoning regulations and to check its violations, during random inspection of various places in the city found these buildings having come up in contravention to the land use and other prescribed building bye-laws and regulations.

Sources told UNI that some of the buildings were owned by ''big guns'', including retired bureaucrats.

A few housing colonies were also found to have come up in the city and outskirts in violation of the laws and rules.

The buildings and structures included Town Square at Gogji Bagh, Child Care Public School, Snowpeak Hotel, Hotel Grand Osheen, Hotel Snow Palace, Hotel Milad and a four-storey building housing a Jammu and Kashmir Bank branch (all at Raj Bagh), Green Forests housing colony at Zakura and Trison City at Narabal on the city outskirts.

The SDA Monitoring Cell also found many buildings and structures having come up unauthorisedly in the proposed district centre opposite Hokersar, a sanctuary which draws from across the world the most number of birds among the 14 wetlands in Jammu and Kashmir.

In a public notice published in Greater Kashmir, the leading English daily from here, the SDA said the owners of these unauthorised buildings and structures were directed to present the sanctioned permission and a copy to its monitoring cell. However, they have failed to comply with the orders, it added.

The SDA directed the owners to immediately stop work and restore the buildings to the original sanctioned permission, if obtained, or demolish the structures on their own before any action under rules was taken against them.

''To carry out violations, illegal and unauthorised construction or development of a building is a congnizable offence under section 10 of the Control of Building Operations Act,'' it said.

The SDA further directed the matter be immediately referred to police for registration of cases. It asked the police to arrest the delinquent people, if they persist with the continuing violations.

UNI