Protecting wetlands
Facts reveal that good deal of manoeuvring and underhand activity has been resorted to for turning the wetland into a commercial unit, namely the vehicle showroom on Srinagar bypass. There is standing order of the Government not to utilise wetlands and kahcharai for construction purposes. Records reveal that initially the application of Ansari was for vehicle repair unit. According to Company’s CEO claims, it was the Srinagar Municipal Corporation that offered the company to construct the repair unit only 162 feet off the highway instead of nearly 300 feet as stipulated in its regulations. Why did the Municipal Corporation authorities allow breach of rule? Having done that, the Ansari Company, in stead of opening a vehicle repairing unit converted it into Toyota Show Room. On whose authority did this change in the purpose of the unit take place? Amusingly it was Maulana Iftikhar Ansari, MLA PDP who had raised the question of unauthorised use of wetlands in Srinagar, Baramulla and Bandipore districts by certain influential persons. The Panel constituted by the Assembly, which comprises mostly PDP legislators has made in-depth investigation and ordered sealing of the showroom after being convinced that the company had indulged in gross violation of rules and committed irregularities. This incident is only the tip of the iceberg and is an indicator that encroachment of wetlands and kahcharais in the state is on a big scale. The Government should set up an enquiry commission to probe into the entire matter of grabbing and conversion of wetlands and state lands. It is a mafia and the Government needs to break it somehow. It is virtual scam.
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