JammuThe Jammu and Kashmir High Court has issued notices to the administration and the police to ensure strict implementation of the ban on construction activity near an ammunition depot in Nagrota on the outskirts of this city.
The court’s notices came yesterday after the Army moved the court against construction on land owned by Speaker Nirmal Singh’s wife Mamta Singh.
The Army has demanded immediate halt to the construction work citing security reasons.
“There is non-cooperation on the part of the police and the civilian administration in not implementing the order on the ban and allowing the construction to go on,” said lawyer Ajay Sharma, representing the Army in the case.
The Army, he said, has also sought initiation of contempt proceedings.
After hearing Sharma, Justice Janak Raj Kotwal issued notice to senior officials of the administration and the senior superintendent of police in Jammu to file a compliance report by May 30 in accordance with the high court’s May 7 interim order.
The speaker landed in controversy when the Army objected to the construction of his home adjacent to an ammunition depot along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway in Nagrota belt.
On May 7, the high court had directed civilian and police authorities to ensure strict implementation in accordance with the law and rules and directed that no unlawful activity in the area was permitted that till next date of hearing on May 21.
The Army had alleged that construction continued on the land despite the court order and there was non-cooperation from the authorities.
In a letter addressed to the speaker on March 19, Commander of Army’s 16 Corps Lt General Saranjeet Singh said the construction “has implications on the security of a major ammunition storage facility as well as the safety of personnel living in close vicinity of the ammunition depot”.
The speaker said he had started constructing the house on a 2,000 square metre plot last year.
The land was bought in 2000 by the Himgiri Infrastructure Development Private Limited, whose shareholders included present J&K Deputy Chief Minister Kavinder Gupta and BJP MP Jugal Kishore, he said.
“Committees were set up by deputy commissioners of Jammu to resolve the issue for the last several years. While the Army has maintained that the distance of no-construction zone should be considered from the boundary wall of the depot, the people want that the distance should be considered from the depot itself. This is the point of contention,” he said.
According to state building permission rules, no construction can take place within 500 metres of any Army formation for commercial buildings and 200 metres for residential purpose.
Despite the rules, several colonies, including the posh Friends Colony housing ministers and bureaucrats, have come up close to the wall of the Air Force base and BSF headquarters in Srinagar over the past decade.
Over 500 houses and commercial establishments have been set up within the wall of Sunjuwan military station here which was attacked by terrorists early this year.
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