Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Monday directed government that all the constructions activities in Pahalgam shall be strictly in accordance with the Master Plan.
We have already made it clear on the previous occasion that all activities to be governed by the Master Plan may it be existing structures both in the forest areas and wild life areas as also in the buffer zone. We had already noted that the advocate general stated that the existing structures continue to exist in such areas but no further construction would be permitted and only repair and renovation may be permitted in respect of existing structures and that too on applications made to BOCA, they shall examine the applications on case to case basis and the permission if any would be granted in accordance with Master Plan, said a division bench of the court headed by Chief Justice Badar Durrez Ahmad.
The court was hearing the PIL filed by Peoples Welfare Organization Pahalgam through advocate Parvez Imroz.
The court also made it clear that in so far as the permissible area was concern, any construction would also be permitted but only in terms of the master plan and that too by the BOCA. Therefore there is no need to file application before this court. The applications be filed before the BOCA.
The direction followed after advocate general handed over the notification to dated 12.7.17 bearing 287 whereby the government appointed the BOCA for Pahalgam. The said authority shall hold its first meeting to deal with all the pending application and any further application filed now or filed after 23.10.17.
Meanwhile, the state government informed the Jammu and Kashmir High Court that demarcation of forest, wildlife, construction, non-construction zones etc in Pahalgam will take 10 days.
Advocate General informed the division bench that the demarcation and identification with survey numbers would be completed within 10 days and urged the court to list the PIL thereafter.
The court also took notice of littering of garbage in and around the world famous health resort and directed the authorities to take care of the issue and save the Pahalgam from pollution.
It directed that issue regarding non-bio degradable waste need to be addressed. A report by the authorities revealed that 74% of the solid waste was generated from the hotels and restaurants. It appears to us that segregation at the source would be easier. This is particularly because hotels and restaurants are within the ambit of administration through various licensing measures. We hope that the rules under the Environment Protection Act 1986 are implemented, the court said.
The court also emphasized for making policy for garbage disposal.
Follow this link to join our WhatsApp group: Join Now
Be Part of Quality Journalism |
Quality journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce and despite all the hardships we still do it. Our reporters and editors are working overtime in Kashmir and beyond to cover what you care about, break big stories, and expose injustices that can change lives. Today more people are reading Kashmir Observer than ever, but only a handful are paying while advertising revenues are falling fast. |
| ACT NOW |
| MONTHLY | Rs 100 |  |
| YEARLY | Rs 1000 | |
| LIFETIME | Rs 10000 | |
