Before he was shunted out, the official had also written to the Anantnag deputy commissioner about changes the latter made to the hotel’s construction plan that were executed in contravention of procedure.
By: Jehangir Ali
Lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha’s administration shunted out a senior officer for allegedly flagging violations by an under-construction hotel in a Pahalgam health resort in south Kashmir, The Wire has learnt.
The hotel, which comprises three huts and includes a staff quarter, is coming up in Athnadan village, located on the outskirts of the eco-fragile Pahalgam area.
According to official documents, construction of the hotel started in April this year and the builder was found by officials to be violating the terms of permission granted by the administration.
The violation was highlighted by the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Pahalgam Development Authority (PDA) in a letter to the deputy commissioner (DC) of Anantnag, seeking his permission to take action against the violation by demolishing the buildings.
The PDA is the nodal authority which manages the health resort and also grants permission for new constructions after getting them approved by the Building Operation Controlling Authority (BOCA) of the PDA, which is headed by the Anantnag DC.
However, instead of acting against the hotelier, the Anantnag DC amended the terms of the building permission, and the PDA CEO was shunted out.
The Wire has sent a detailed questionnaire to Jammu and Kashmir’s (J&K) chief secretary Arun Kumar Mehta, seeking his comments on the alleged irregularities committed by the administration and the reason for the transfer of the then-PDA CEO. This story will be updated if and when he responds.
According to official documents and sources, permission for the hotel’s construction was approved by the BOCA in its 13th meeting on October 6 and October 25 last year. Under the terms of the permission letter – which has been accessed by The Wire – the owner was directed to complete the construction of the hotel’s first hut in first stage of construction.
“After [the] completion of one hut, the construction of [the] second [hut] shall be started … and so on,” the letter states while stressing on the “regeneration of the natural landscape” and protection of the environment in the area, which is located in the heart of south Kashmir’s Lidder valley.
Sources said the construction of the hotel started in April this year.
In a letter to the PDA CEO, a local activist named Mudasir Ahmed alleged that the owner had violated the terms of permission. The letter states that the hotel owner had used “non-permissible machinery to change the topography” of the eco-fragile area.
A group of locals also wrote to the PDA, seeking verification of the revenue records while alleging that the hotel may be coming up on a flood water channel, which is owned by the government but under the care of locals, and not proprietary land.
“The case under observance [sic] needs official probe to know the reality currently dancing behind the bars,” the letter, which has been marked to the Kashmir divisional commissioner and the J&K Anti-Corruption Bureau, states.
“The land served as a discharge canal for cloudbursts in the higher reaches of Pahalgam,” a local wishing anonymity said, while demanding a probe into the alleged fudging of revenue records.
A senior official in the administration, however, rejected this claim, saying that the hotel was coming up on proprietary land.
The Wire could not immediately verify the claims.
Sources said that a PDA team visited the site in May and found that the hotel was being built in violation of the terms laid down by the BOCA. Following the visit, the then-CEO, Syed Sajad Qadri, a Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service officer, flagged the violations to the Anantnag DC, Syeed Fakhrudin Hamid.
In a notice to the property owner on May 18, the assistant executive engineer of the PDA stated that during the site inspection, it was noted “that you have violated the terms and conditions of the permission … by starting construction work of all three huts altogether … in [a] column-type structure instead of [a] load-bearing structure.”
The PDA notice warned the hotel owner to “stop the construction work immediately and rectify the deviation within two days.”
“In case of failure the same shall be demolished by the Pahalgam Development Authority at your risk and cost,” the PDA notice, which was accessed by The Wire, states.
On May 19, the PDA CEO wrote to Anantnag DC Fakhrudin Hamid seeking permission for the demolition of the buildings “in case the applicant fails to follow the conditions laid down in the permission letter.” The letter came after an “emergency meeting” was called by the DC.
The letter, accessed by The Wire, states that the building plan of the hotel, which had been approved by the BOCA (the only authority empowered to make any changes to building plans), was allegedly changed on the verbal directions of the Anantnag DC.
“The [change in building plan] needs to be approved by the BOCA as per the Development Act,” the letter of the then-PDA CEO notes, referring to the law which governs the PDA.
Sources said that the BOCA didn’t meet to approve the change in the terms of permission granted to the hotel owner.
However, instead of acting on the findings of the officer, the administration, which is run directly by the Union government, shunted out the PDA CEO on May 20 to the general administration department, which is considered a punishment posting, while the charge of the post was assigned to the Anantnag DC.
When contacted, the Anantnag DC denied that the administration had resorted to irregularities to allow the construction of the hotel. However, he couldn’t explain the reason for amending the BOCA’s permission within six months of its approval, and directed The Wire to the incumbent PDA CEO, Tariq Hussain.
“I can’t speak on the matter because I was not posted in Pahalgam at that time,” Hussain said, while refusing to elaborate on the action taken against the hotel owner.
The J&K high court has banned construction in Pahalgam, and the ‘illegal’ change in the building permission for the “influential” hotel owner in Athnadan village took place at a time when the administration has been allegedly refusing permissions for carrying out even minor repairs of their homes citing the court ruling, according to locals.
Source : https://thewire.in/government/jk-admin-shunts-official-violations-hotel
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