The High Court on Monday halted all constructional activities in ski resort of Gulmarg.
Hearing a Public Interest Litigation seeking to preserveenvirons of Gulmarg, the division bench of Chief Justice Gita Mittal andJustice Rashid Ali Dar directed the Building Operations Controlling Authority(BOCA) of Gulmarg and Gulmarg Development Authority (GDA) to grant permissionfor constructional activity only after seeing to it that necessary documentshave been furnished by the applicants.
These documents which, the court said, should precede thepermissions include sanction of the building plan or permission accompanied bythe site plan, proof of ownership and title of the land, complete and detailedplan of the existing structures including measurements, permission granted forconstruction, video evidence of any portion of existing structures, videoevidence and photographs of damaged partition sought to be repaired.
With regard to the private properties, the Court orderedthat the permissions granted by BOCA of Gulmarg or General AdministrationDepartment (GAD) shall be halted forthwith.
The Court directed the owners of such properties to submitdocuments to BOCA or GDA within 10 days. After submission of the documents, theCourt said the authorities within 15 days after verification shall allowrepairs of the structures to continue.
Meanwhile, the Court appointed Abdul Rashid, a retiredDistrict and Sessions judge and advocate Nissar Ahmad Bhat as Commissioners andasked them to conduct inspection of 17 structures attested as illegal in herreport to the court by the Registrar Judicial.
The Registrar Judicial had conducted an inspection ofvarious sites in Gulmarg and filed the report. Illegal constructions andillegal leases of land are the main challenges confronting Gulmarg Ski resort.
In February this year, the Court had come down heavily onthe Government for its laxity in acting against those holding land illegally atGulmarg.
The court had warned of a stringent action in case theauthorities failed to comply with its direction.