Violation of Srinagar Master Plan,On HC directions, SMC seals 19 structures in Jawahir Nagar

Srinagar: Complying with High Court directions, the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) today swung into action sealing 19 out of 39 structures identified as illegal in Srinagar city. Talking to news agency, Masarat Yousuf, Media Relations Officer (MRO) of SMC said the enforcement team of the Corporation headed by Hakim Aijaz Ahmad, the Chief Enforcement Officer sealed 19 structures that were raised in violation of Master Plan.  The Corporation is likely to seal many structures tomorrow particularly from Hyderpora area, sources said. It may be recalled that on September 30, a division bench of the High Court comprising of Chief Justice M M Kumar and Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey had asked SMC to seal as many as 45 illegal structures within the City.The Court had directed the Corporation to swing into action and take appropriate steps for sealing of buildings belonging to any violators as per the show-cause notices and the demolition orders passed (by the Corporation) on March 16, 2009 or thereafter.Masarat Yousuf said the illegal structures at Jawahir Nagar had become a nuisance for the Corporation and with the help of police and in presence of the executive magistrate, 19 structures including a hotel; a stationary gallery and a clinic were sealed.The entire team of the Corporation that sealed these illegal structures was supervised by the secretary SMC Hilal Ahmad Diwani.Pertinently, on September 30, the Court had directed Director General of Police (DGP) to provide help if required by SMC for sealing of illegal structures. The Court had also given a deadline of three days to SMC to seal these structures and file a status report with the Registrar Judicial on October 4.Nearly 45 buildings have been identified by the Corporation have been constructed in violation of the Master Plan within the city.The Corporation had pleaded before the court that show cause notices have already been issued to various violators on March 6, 2009 and demolition order passed on March 16, 2009.During earlier hearings, Advocate General Mohammad Ishaq Qadri had informed the Court that there was gross violation of the Master Plan because residential areas are being used for commercial purposes and that there was no effective control exercised by the SMC.