HC directs subordinate courts, tribunals not to pass any order
Constructions in Sonamarg…
Srinagar June 07: All the subordinate courts including tribunals in the state were directed on Thursday by the High Court not to pass or entertain any order with regard to constructions in the Sonamarg tourist resort of Kashmir.
A division bench while hearing a public interest litigation on the illegal constructions and the state of “existent” vandalization of Sonamarg made it clear that the appellate court of the state is the custodia legis in the matter.
It accordingly directed all the other courts not to pass or entertain any order with regard to constructions in the tourist resort.
The High Court has already banned all the constructions in the area after reports of construction of hotels, guest houses and commercial apartments by power elite of Kashmir in gross violation of the master plan for the locale.
These privileged people including bureaucrats, police officers, businessmen and politicians in league with revenue and forest authorities have axed hundreds of deodar, kail and other coniferous trees on the mountains of Sonamarg and leveled the slopes with bulldozers in the ecologically sensitive area.
The court in its previous hearing took notice of the illegal activity and directed that no constructions shall be carried till further orders.
In the wake of alarming condition of Sonamarg, the court treated the issue as suo moto proceedings so as to prevent it from wholesale destruction.
The Court while passing directions on the subject has also directed the concerned authorities to ensure proper management of solid waste and other non-biodegradable waste in and around the resort.
The Sonamarg area, it is evident, has suffered serious environmental degradation because of apathy on the part of stakeholders, it said.
Rashid Paul is Associate Editor at Kashmir Images.
He can be reached at [email protected]
