Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Dec 16: The High Court has directed the Government to come up with a policy with regard to the structures and buildings which were built before the ban within the peripheries of 200 meters of Dal lake.
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The order has been passed after the court was informed that several applications were moved by different persons seeking permission for repairing of their structures which have been raised before the ban put by the court within the peripheries of 200 meters of Dal lake.
However, those applications have not been entertained as construction work or even carrying of building materials was not permitted in and around Dal Lake and in some of the cases, LAWDA has passed orders that the applications cannot be considered as the properties were within the 200 meters of the prohibited area.
The Division Bench of Justice Atul Sreedharan and Justice Mohd Yousuf Wani in this backdrop said that for a long term solution, a policy decision needs to be arrived at by the Union Territory Government, as to how to deal with this issue of these buildings and houses within the 200 meters from the Dal lake which were legitimately constructed before the ban came into effect by ensuring that the livelihood of the people is also sustained and ensuring at the same time that there is no deleterious environmental effect on the Dal lake or in the areas in proximity to the Dal lake.
“Therefore, this Court requests the UT Government to constitute a Committee in right earnest to form a policy which would address the concerns reflected and ensure the sustainability of the Dal lake without disturbing the livelihood and lives of those who have been residing in houses and buildings which were legitimately constructed in the area. We hope that the Committee would be constituted and a policy be framed before the next date of hearing of this case”, the DB directed.
The bench observed it feels that a human angle also must be taken into cognizance along-with the wellbeing of the Dal lake as human habitation is as much a part of the ecosystem as the lake. There are two kinds of constructions within the 200 meters boundary which may be existing as on date.
“The first category is of construction which was made legitimately under the existing law before the bar of having any construction/building within the 200 meters from the lake came into existence. The second category relates to those constructions that may have come up within the 200 meters of the lake after it was so prohibited and are out rightly illegal constructions as they could not have come up after the ban on construction in that area”, the bench said.
The court, however, has made it clear that the problem refers to those buildings which are in existence within the 200 meters boundary from the Dal lake, which came into existence legitimately before the ban on constructions/raising of buildings within the 200 meters of the Dal lake.
Those, court added, may be residential houses used by people who on account of the orders passed previously are unable to repair damages/ wear and tear that houses experience with the passage of time on account of the orders passed by this Court. “Those constructions which were legitimately built and are being used, may require repair/reconstruction as per original plan unless the said houses are acquired by the State under procedure established by law for the purpose of clearing all construction within 200 meters from the Dal lake”, read the order.
It is noted that an order was passed earlier on 19.07.2002, wherein the Court had directed the authorities to ensure that no erection of buildings shall be allowed within 200 meters from the center of the foreshore road wherever the road has been constructed, and that no changes will be made in the buildings as it existed on that date.
The Amicus Curiae to the PIL and Senior Counsel Z A Shah in order to highlight the magnitude of the problem, informed the court that those buildings which may have come up legitimately, may see a change in use on account of the greater demand for accommodation in close proximity of the Dal lake.
Many of these houses, he informed, whose existence at the site may be legitimate may now have been converted into Lodges, Guest Houses or offering accommodation to the tourists as paying guest which besides changing the nature of its occupancy, would also bring within it, the excess load of waste disposal that is generated by the tourists residing in these accommodations.
“As on date, it is not known as to how many of these premises are used as Guest Houses or Houses for tourists and the nature of the pressure caused by the waste generated by the tourists residing in these houses and what is the manner for effective waste disposal/management of this excess waste arising from a commercial use of these residential premises”, read the order.
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