Vijay Dhar, owner of the Hospitality company, which is constructing a multiplex cinema theater here, has accused authorities at BB Cantonment Board of “creating unnecessary hurdles” in execution of the project.
Speaking with Greater Kashmir, Dhar said former J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik had come up with the idea of allowing construction of multiplexes on proprietary land in Kashmir.
“As per the Cinemas Act, Deputy Commissioner Srinagar has to provide necessary permissions for the multiplexes. We have applied with the DC whose go-ahead along with approvals from multi-agencies such as Fire and Emergency department are possible only once multiplex is ready,” said Dhar.
He said if there was any dispute regarding the land on which the multiplex was being constructed by the company, M/S Taksal Hospitality Pvt Ltd “the issue is outside the purview of the Cantonment Board.”
“So, why is the Board creating hurdles? In fact after passing the project plan, land revenue officers in presence of Board CEO (Chief Executive Officer) carried demarcation of the land following which we went ahead with the construction,” said Dhar.
Now, he said, as the construction was near completion, the Board was creating hurdles when it was only authorized to approve building permission and clear permission for land use.
“Military Estates Officer who deals with the defense lands has not raised any objection, so what are the grounds of objection raised by the Cantonment Board,” Dhar said.
The issue has come to the fore days after the media reports said Kashmir was going to have its first multiplex at Sonwar.
“We want to provide a means of entertainment to people. Let Srinagar district administration and the BB Cant Board sort the issue among themselves. We will stay out of this,” Dhar said.
But, in a recently issued public letter, the Cantonment Board has denied having accorded sanction for the multiplex even as the project developers has termed refusal of the as an “unnecessary hurdle,” saying they have already received “in-principle approval from J&K government last year.”
The CEO, Cantonment Board, Upendra Kumar said they had in 2018 approved a “proposal for a hotel on the same land where multiplex is coming up now”.
He said they have written to Srinagar district administration seeking clarity regarding the ownership of land on which the multiplex was being constructed.
“We wrote to the DC after we received an objection letter about the land ownership. Even the building plan has also been changed by the cinema developers,” Kumar said.
However, he said they were yet to get any response from the district administration.