The Story of Illegal Constructions that CEO Sonmarg Missed

Report by Abrar Mattoo

Sonmarg, Jul 29: Recently, CEO Sonmarg carried out a demolition of wooden viewpoints in the lawn of Tranquil Retreat hotel, the report of which was carried out by various news organisations. While the said step to cull the Illegal constructions at eco-fragile Sonmarg must be appreciated, this exclusive QNS report features the details regarding the various other illegal constructions going on at the famous tourist spot which the concerned official has somehow missed.

According to various photographic and video evidence, there are more than eighty illegal commercial constructions being raised at Sonmarg currently, which not only violate the sanctity of this eco-sensitive zone, but also mar the greenscape of this otherwise beautiful tourist destinations with blotched megastructures of concrete.

These massive commercial constructions of hotels and guesthouses are in blatant contradiction to the ban instituted by the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court in 2017, which aims to preserve the natural beauty of Sonamarg and prevent further unauthorized building activities.

A major question mark in regard to the illegal constructions is how these builders are ferrying building materials into Sonmarg. Sonmarg Development Authority has established a toll post at Shutkadi, Sonamarg which is manned 24/7 by SDA employees to prevent construction materials from entering Sonamarg. Additionally, CCTV cameras have been installed at the toll post to monitor and record any attempts to smuggle construction materials into the area during the night, begging the question that if the building material enters Sonmarg, whether the SDA employees are hand in glove with the illegal builders?!Sonmarg is ecologically sensitive and no longer as pristine as it used to be, primarily due to massive illegal hotels and guesthouses that are comming up blatantly at the famed tourist destination.

As per the (Department Of Ecology, Environment & Remote Sensing) DEERS report, the built-up area of Sonamarg tourist resort exceeds 78 hectares, surpassing the threshold of 50 hectares as per the Master Plan 2005-25.In a written affidavit before the High Court in February last year, the then CEO SDA, Mushtaq Ahmad Rather, clearly stated that no new constructions could be allowed in Sonamarg, yet more than 200 constructions have come up since then.

At present, nearly eighty constructions are being built. To facilitate the construction of more hotels and infrastructure in the eco-fragile tourist resort, the Chairman of BOCA for SDA formed a committee last year to counter the DEERS report.

However, a report based on satellite imagery, as sought by the High Court, supported the DEERS report, showing that the built-up area in Sonamarg exceeded the permissible limit and refuted the claims of the BOCA.

Moreover, according to Regulations for Environmentally Conservation Green Zones, the green buffer along the Nallas/ Rivers or the open space along the River/tributary shall be minimum 30 meters from the highest water level or as provided in the master plan/zonal development plan or as provided under water regulatory act, whichever is more.

However, as evident from the photographic and video evidence available with QNS, almost fifty constructions are currently being constructed right on the river banks with no buffer, whatsoever.

These hotels and guesthouses, apart from being illegal are also putting the Sonmarg and its ecosystem in jeopardy. Furthermore, there have been some permissions granted for construction of residential houses by the BDO, just to circumvent the process of granting the commercial permissions which is completely banned by the honorable high court of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

Recently, BDO granted a building permission to Grewal, a Punjabi resident, despite a High Court order (dated 27-03-2023) banning any construction in the SDA area.

These residential permissions, which are also banned, are used as a guide to couch the construction of massive commercial enterprises and guesthouses at Sonmarg.

According to a reliable source, recently, a hotelier was putting down a slab, where nearly 200 workers were working during the night, hinting at the height and scale of commercial illegal constructions going on at Sonmarg.

While many hoteliers claim to having permissions, the deviations commited by these hoteliers are huge.

A hotelier constructing a 150 room hotel has an outdated permission for only 28 rooms, making mockery of the system on another front.

The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, in a vide Notification No. 391, dated 05-10-2015 ordered that “all buildings, (within Sonmarg) whether residential or commercial, shall have adequate setbacks, as may be defined. No building shall be built abutting the road without any setback.”

However, the setbacks is a line that everyone crosses without any punitive action from concerned authorities at Sonmarg. In the context of the commercial buildings at Sonmarg, the hotels and guest houses must be constructed under set rules, because they are mandatory in nature and serve to protect buildings against fire, earthquake, noise, structural failures, and other hazards.

Structural integrity is of paramount nature in Kashmir, given that the valley falls in seismic zone V and is immensely prone to earthquakes.

However, all these regulations go to a toss at Sonmarg, because when the buildings themselves are illegal, no regulation is followed. Further, as mandated by National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 (“NGT Act”) and Construction & Demolition Waste Management Rules, 2016, commercial constructions have to ensure compliance with various regulations including (i) Topography and natural drainage, (ii) Adoption of water conservation methods, (iii) Management of sewage/wastewater, (iv) Solid waste management, (v) Green cover, (v) Air and Noise pollution, and Power supply etcetera. However, these regulations are also ignored as the illegal constructions follow no regulation at all.

As already stated, most of these constructions are carried out on the river front at Sonmarg, putting not only the ecology of Sonmarg in jeopardy, but also, desecrating the ecological sanctity of all the areas downstream.

Many of these constructions also fall close to the protected areas and therefore, the constructions must also conform with the Tourism Master Plan guidelines as applicable. But that is not happening in Sonmarg. When QNS contacted, CEO Sonmarg Mr. Gulzar Ahmad Bhat, for the comments on illegal constructions being carried out at Sonmarg, the official said that immediate action will be taken against the illegal constructions. He further asked QNS to provide the details regarding the illegal constructions so that he can take the necessary action.

QNS has shared all the photographic and video evidence with the said official, and it remains to be seen what action shall follow.

However, the question which remains is that if the concerned agency, charged with the care and protection of Sonmarg has no information regarding the illegal constructions going on at famed eco-sensitive zone, should such an agency not be held accountable for direlection of duty, as the case can be that the direlection is deliberate and intentional.