Tawi Vihar residents appeal LG to institute CBI enquiry into working of Housing Cooperative Society

Residents of Tawi Vihar during a meeting.
Residents of Tawi Vihar during a meeting.

Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU July 19: Expressing concern over shoddy functioning of the J&K Cooperative Housing Corporation (J&KHCL) Limited and seeking time-bound probe into dolling out of a school premises along with a piece of state land to a private chain of schools in lieu of whopping sum of money, the Association of Tawi Vihar Colony Sidhra Residents today urged Lt Governor Girish Chandra Murmu to order a thorough inquiry by the Crime Branch, CBI or any independent authority for digging out the facts and booking the perpetrators of crime.
In a statement, the Association has stated that the deal has taken place in the Tawi Vihar Colony Sidhra without consent of the residents or without calling a General Body Meeting.
“The cooperative school was actually a facility for the children of the colony, which has been clandestinely, illegally and unethically sold to a private institution, which amounts to betrayal with the residents”, the Association said, adding that the Housing Corporation has also usurped a big chunk of Government land adjacent to the school and sold out to the new owners.
Among others, prominent among those present on the occasion included Purshotoma Sadhotra wife of Lt Gen. (Retd), L.K. Sadhotra Brg. (Retd) M.M. Gupta, Col (Retd) S.S. Jamwal, Neeraj Goel, Uma Katal, Shiv Kumar Jamwal, Omair Nisar Ganai, Prof. Chanchal Dogra, M.K. Dhar, Dr Kapil, Devender Sharma, S. Ranjot Singh and others.
The Association said that the upcoming school by a big chain will cause a lot of inconvenience and hardships to the residents of the Colony, as a fleet of vehicles will keep moving the narrow lanes in the area. This is bound to happen as all the private schools are required to maintain their own fleet of buses, which would put unnecessary pressure on Colony that has just one exit and entry gate.
The Association also stated that the deal has happened without taking the residents of the area in confidence. It has been struck by the Board of the Directors through the Managing Director for crores of rupees, notwithstanding the fact that the premises includes the state land adjacent to the River Castle Apartments.
The deal being purely a commercial in nature is flawed as no requisite formalities in terms of no objection certificates from the Irrigation and Flood Control Department, Jammu Development Authority etc have been obtained. The sale deed is also in gross violation of the by-laws of the J&K Cooperative Housing Corporation Limited, a duly registered company. The Association said that subletting of the premises is also against the explicit understanding with the residents at the time of allotment of plots that the colony will have no commercial activity and shall remain environment friendly.
The Association lamented that the management of the Corporation has become an entity unto himself, which does not understand the sensitivities involved. It sought immediate revocation of the deal, especially as the S. P Smart School has undertaken massive renovation work and started a whole hog admission campaign in the winter capital by displaying hoarding at premier locations.