Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Aug 28: With the backing of some ruling party politicians, the Taxi drivers have illegally occupied a prime plot of land worth over Rs 100 crore belonging to Srinagar Development Authority (SDA) and set up Taxi stand.
The SDA officials said that police and the administration have failed to evict them even after passage of four days. “The Vice Chairman of Srinagar Development Authority (SDA), Mohammad Shafi Rather, who is an IAS officer, was helpless before the Taxi drivers as they were reportedly in touch with some ruling party members who were directing police and administrative officers not to take any action against these drivers”, said an SDA official.
Armed with bulldozers around 50 taxi drivers outside the residence of Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand and several other top bureaucrats and police officials, forced their way into the compound housing the store of SDA on Maulana Azad Link Road on the intervening night of August 24 and 25 and parked their vehicles there.
The Taxi drivers have put up banners declaring the plot, measuring around 1.6 acres and valued at over Rs 100 crore, as a Taxi stand.
The SDA have given a written complaint to the police for lodging an FIR against the trespassers and evicting them from the premises but no action has been taken so far.
The SDA complaint lodged in Police Station Kothibagh says: “An organised gang of about 50 Sumo (Taxi) drivers, supported by some notorious property dealers, forcibly broke into the well-fortified store premises of SDA at 2300 hours on August 24. They bulldozed the walling and structures worth lakhs of rupees for illegal establishment of a Taxi stand.”
The SDA said repeated attempts by its enforcement wing to prevent these “criminal trespassers” from vandalising the SDA property was met with “furious assault” on the team.
The complaint said that the Vice Chairman of the authority Mohammad Shafi Rather raised the matter with senior police officials including IGP Kashmir, A G Mir, and SSP Srinagar, DIG Kashmir, Afadul Mujtaba and Ashiq Bukhari. “You are requested to kindly register a case, apprehend and evict the culprits from the SDA store premises,” the complaint adds.
The SDA officials said so far police has not taken any action on the complaint and the senior officials have decided to approach the High Court to seek directions for evicting the encroachers in this regard.
The stand poses security threat to Deputy Chief Minister and several top officials of the State Government and Central Government who reside adjacent to SDA store premises.
The Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, Farooq Shah said: “I have provided the Vice Chairman of the SDA with two Additional District Magistrates and police party for removing encroachers. However, he has not done anything so far.”
The Jammu and Kashmir High Court is already hearing a Public Interest Litigation on transport issues of Srinagar. The court has banned establishing of any new transport stand in the heart of the city. The court has ordered shifting of Taxi stand in Lal Chowk to Pantha Chowk as part of de-congestion of Srinagar city.
The SDA Employees Union President, Zahoor Ahmad Farooqi sought the intervention of Minister for Urban Development and Urban Local Bodies, Nawang Rigzin Jora, who is also Chairman SDA, in getting the forcible occupation by some Sumo drivers of SDA Stores near Sangarmaal City Centre vacated immediately and the property worth crores of rupees restored to the Authority.
Farooqi also drew the attention of the Minister towards forcible occupation of around 16 kanals of land in Doodh Ganga, Batamaloo which has also been changed into an illegal Sumo stand. He also sought intervention of the Minister in getting the Terminal Building of the General Bus Stand Batamaloo vacated by encroachers which has been illegally occupied by around 400 vendors.
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