Real Estate Mogul Fills Up Irrigation Canal to Pave Way for Residential Colony
In Connivance with Revenue and SMC, Constructions are Coming Up Against Court Orders
A Report by Meer Altaf
In a twisted turn of events, an irrigation canal traversing right from Gulab Bagh down to Dargah Hazratbal has been completely filled up, paving the way for encroachments of more than 400 Kanals of land, out of which a real estate Mogul, i.e., the proprietor of Makhan Lal Dhar Bagh, has encroached more than 40 Kanals of land, and in connivance with the revenue department and officials of Srinagar Municipal Corporation, palatial houses and commercial constructions are coming up despite a ban from the honourable court of Jammu and Kashmir and the direction of Town Planning division, Kashmir.
The Makhan Lal Dhar Bagh, a real estate property of more than 200 Kanals at Zakura Hazratbal, was purchased by the real estate mogul from the heirs of Makhan Lal Dhar in the aftermath of the Pandit Exodus from Kashmir valley, and at that time, the irrigation canal that stood between 12-15 feet wide, was being used by the local farmers to water their fields. The land stood barren for many decades, and a few years ago, the new owner decided to transform it into a residential colony.
Thus, in the pursuit of transforming the Makhan Lal Dhar Bagh into a residential colony, the owner filled up the irrigation canal which eventually dried the whole canal system, and led to the encroachment of irrigation land downstream as well. Currently, the canal stands non existent on site, and only mentioned in the revenue records of the area. However, outside the Makhan Lal Dhar Bagh, the canal is totally visible and the locals have built various small bridges over it.
Currently, posh and lavish houses are coming up at Makhan Lal Dhar Bagh, including a mammoth commercial building which in itself is a violation of building norms in the residential area, and purchases are occurring for hundreds of crores of Rupees.
In addition to a massive commercial building at the front of the colony, there is another big commercial building being constructed at the rear of the building with lift and excessive stories and the allowed plinth parameters.
These commercial buildings in the residential area are not only in violation of the Srinagar Masterplan 2035 and other municipal guidelines, but also, stand in portions atop the encroached irrigation canal, in particular the one in the rear side of the colony.
Additionally, all the constructions at Makhan Lal Dhar Bagh stand in violation of the reported court orders, wherein a full-fledged ban has been imposed upon the construction. This is an outright mockery of the system and the law of the land.
Moreover, the buyer of the commercial building in the rear side of the building has committed a huge treachery with law of the land. In order to circumvent the ban on construction at Makhan Lal Dhar Bagh, imposed in the year 2018, the proprietor cut off a 12 Kanal patch from the main plot, though the common wall is still intact and this was done only on revenue documents to facilitate a residential permission for the building. However, the Srinagar Municipal Corporation has paid no heed to the objection of the local residents, who have time and again pressed for action against the commercial activities in their area.
A local activist namely Javid Ahmad said that” since the sale and purchase of the land is currently going on, they are selling the land which is proprietary to them and the excess land which was encroached from the canal is being added as the road in the records, thus cleaning the encroachment from any tracks.”
While speaking with the concerned Patwari, the official said that during his tenure, the irrigation canal did not exist, and it must have been filled up earlier, during the tenure of earlier revenue officials.
However, when we attempted to reach the concerned official from the Department of Irrigation and Flood Control, J&K, they were not available for the comments.
Sometime ago, the Lietunant Governor’s administration launched an anti-encroachment drive in which the land taken illegally was being retrieved from the big encroachers. The administration promised that the land retrieved from the affluent will be given to the poor. However, the local revenue administration has failed all these cumulative steps and put the encroachment of the canal in a black box.
The protection of water bodies as mandated in The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, to provide for the prevention and control of water pollution, and for the maintaining or restoring of wholesomeness of water in the country, is being openly violated under the very nose of irrigation, revenue, SMC, and various other departments.
It remains to be seen whether any action will be taken against the land mafia operating in Srinagar and the irrigation canal would be restored to its glory.
