Row over library project

It is disheartening to know that the matter of bringing a prestigious project to completion by the end of this year has run into difficulties and has become a subject of litigation. We are referring to the project of Sri Pratap Singh Library proposed to be raised on a 2 kanal plot of land situated on the most prestigious Maulana Abul Kalam Road in Srinagar. According to reports available, the land was transferred from Government College of Education to Libraries Department under formal orders of the Government and the 34 crore rupee project of building a modern library with all necessary facilities was launched. The construction of the building was handed over to JKPCC which undertook the work expeditiously. But then a writ petition was filed and the court ordered suspension of work on the project. The staff deployed for construction including the watch and ward personnel have been evicted through court order and now the position is that the JKPCC is worried about the safety of its material, machines and other equipment worth crores of rupees. This is a bizarre situation and it appears that some vested interests are trying to scuttle the project. The question is why not the government made sure that there was no dispute about the ownership of the land before sanctioning the project. Primarily it is the government that should come out with a clarification about the ownership of the land and all of its legalities. The project is a laudable one but why a mess has been created about ownership? It has to be resolved as early as possible.