Gulmarg tourist resort

There are reports that some people have not spared Gulmarg tourist resort, the prime resort of its kind in the State, from their perfidy and vandalism. The estate of the resort is encroached and illegal constructions have been raised. It is surprising how the authorities on spot and their high ups have closed their eye to the acts of vandalism. Unless there is a nexus among all concerned, blatant violation of rules cannot take place.
Gulmarg is the first tourist destination ever created in the State. During the British Raj, British officers and functionaries used to visit Kashmir more often owing to its salubrious climate and very attractive natural scenery. It was the British Resident and the colonial officers who designed Gulmarg as the beautiful tourist resort and raised some well cared for structures besides the skiing  facilities in which European tourists were very much interested. Under Dogra administration, Gulmarg was kept meticulously clean and no pollution of it was allowed. However, under popular rule, the strict discipline of maintaining pristine purity of Gulmarg came under pressures and business minded people began to grab chunks of prestigious land and convert these into commercial establishments. Especially during past twenty years of turmoil in Kashmir some influential people taking advantage of disturbed conditions in the State attempted encroaching upon the precious land in Gulmarg tourist resort for enhancing their commercial activities.  Considering that with the passage of time, more and more tourist would be visiting Gulmarg, the Government felt that a comprehensive programme of developing Gulmarg as a premier tourist destination was needed. In pursuance of this line of thinking, the Government constituted Gulmarg Development Authority with clear instructions that the tourist destination had to be provided with all amenities, recreation facilities and attractions which any super class tourist destination can expect. We are not going into the details of what are the achievements of GDA; we need to focus on a PIL before the Division Bench of State High Court in Srinagar in which the petitioners have asked the court to disallow raising of new structures or repairing of old ones by persons who have been issued permission by the chief of the GDA under formal orders. As the PIL came up for hearing before the Division Bench, it found that the orders issued by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Gulmarg Development Authority (GDA) were not in conformity with the laws governing the subject. These orders were illegal and could not stand the test of time. Dissatisfied with the CEO of GDA, the court questioned whether the CEO knew what his function was and whether he was aware of what he has been doing. Court’s strictures clearly indicate that the CEO has not acted in accordance with the law while issuing permissions to people to either raise new structures or renovate and repair the old ones. He has been asked by the Court to be personally present at the next hearing to explain how he issued permissions to various people to raise structures or renovate these in the Gulmarg tourist resort. The court order forbade the people who are in receipt of permission letters to construct anything new or repair the old ones on the basis of orders issued by the CEO. In yet another question, the Court asked the Advocate General to disclose how much area of land had been encroached upon and how much has been retrieved till date and what was the amount of un-retrieved area. The AG said that 60 per cent of the illegally occupied area had been vacated so far. However, it seemed that the Court had reservations in accepting the statement of the Advocate General and wanted to know about the fate of the remaining encroachments.
The point is that if the State Tourism Department is sincere in promoting tourism in the State with state of art services, it is important that defacing of prestigious destinations like Gulmarg and Pahalgam is strictly forbidden. Officers of great integrity have to be placed in charge of Development Authorities wherever these have been created and action has to be taken against the defaulters in which not only the functionaries of the Tourist Department but also of Revenue and Finance are involved.

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