PIL regarding preservation of Sonamarg
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Sept 5: A Division Bench of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court comprising Chief Justice N Kotiswar Singh and Justice MA Choudhary has directed Sonamarg Development Authority (SDA) to apprise the court about the actual area which has been used by the hotels and other facilities for providing accommodation as provided in the Master Plan with the help of satellite imagery.
After hearing Syed Faisal Qadiri, Senior Counsel for the applicant, Amicus Curiae Nadeem Qadiri and Government Advocate Illayas Nazir Laway, DB observed, “while considering the issue, one thing which has been brought to our notice that this court passed an order dated 28.12.2022 whereby it was made clear that till the new Master Plan is finalized and published, all construction activities in the Sonamarg Development Area shall be strictly as per the Master Plan in vogue—-Master Plan of Sonamarg 2005 to 2025”.
“It has been brought to our notice that in the Master Plan prepared by the Town Planning Organization, Kashmir, for Sonamarg Tourist Resort 2005-2025, in respect of hotels, the proposed land use is 8.87 hectares. Similarly, in respect of other land use, the areas have been specifically mentioned in terms of hectares”, the DB said, adding “the present application relates to construction of a new hotel and as such, it has to be within the permissible land use of 8.87 hectares in area as per the Master Plan. However, there is nothing on record to show as to how much of the area of 8.87 hectares allocated for the purpose of construction of hotels has been actually utilized”.
“In our view, it will not be permissible to grant permission for construction of any hotel, if the area of 8.87 hectare as per the Master Plan has already been exhausted”, the DB said, adding “under the circumstances this would require the Sonamarg Development Authority (SDA) to apprise this court about the actual area which has been used by the hotels and other facilities for providing accommodation as provided in the Master Plan”.
“To understand properly the actual use of land for various purposes including accommodation mentioned in the Master Plan, the Sonamarg Development Authority (SDA) would be required to submit before this court an affidavit with the help of satellite imagery of the various constructions/facilities already existing on the Sonamarg Tourist Resort by identifying each and every such construction to enable us to examine that these constructions/land use are within the permissible limit”, the DB said and granted two weeks time to enable SDA to submit the affidavit.
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