Pahalgam, Apr 25: Even after 13 years of expiry of the lease agreement with the government, the hotel owners have been running their business in this tourist resort at the cost of state exchequer.
Sources said that the hotel owners violated all the norms and encroached more land than what they were allotted in 1957 when Bakshi Ghulam Muhammad led government keeping in view the accommodation of the tourists decided to provide 1000 Kanals of state land to some private parties on lease for 40 years for undertaking construction of hotels and guest-houses.
Though the lease of these hotels expired in the year 1997 but 13 years down the line the government is yet to renew it.
“Most of the hotel owners have illegally occupied three times the allotted land in their surroundings and have raised structures even in green vegetation and near the Lidder river,” sources and locals said adding that the government should assess the land allotted on lease and the land in use.
They said that government has not even bothered to review the rent of the leased land that the hoteliers were supposed to pay towards the revenue department.
“If the hotel owners don’t have lease anymore, I fail to understand how they manage to get permission for re-constructing, repairing or increasing the bed capacity of the hotels,” sources said.
A top revenue official told Greater Kashmir, “ The matter of renewal of lease in Pahalgam as well as Gulmarg is already in the notice of the government and it is their prerogative. But the government should speed up the process or else take the leased land back as it was costing the state exchequer.”
He also admitted that the hoteliers have encroached upon the land more than the leased land.
The chief executive officer Pahalgam Development Authority, Abdul Wahid Tak said the file for the revision of lease is pending for approval.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 25 Apr 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 25 Apr 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 26 Apr 2010 00:00:00 IST