Srinagar: The J&K High Court has directed that no additional constructions shall be made except for the purpose of tin-roofing of structures requiring it in the skiing resort of Gulmarg.
In a public interest petition on restoring the pristine ecological balance of the ski resort, Chief Justice N Kotiswar Singh and Justice Moksha Khajuria Kazmi made it clear that while making the tin-roofing no additional construction shall be made except for the purpose of tin-roofing.
The bench further directed “if any deviation will be brought to the notice of this court, if Gulmarg Development Authority (GDA) is able to substantiate its claim in that event, this court will take a serious view against the deviations made against the court’s order and pass appropriate order for demolition of such structures.”
The court also tried at streamlining the official actions and warned “if any authority had deliberately prevented the implementation of the court’s order, necessary consequences will visit the concerned official(s)”.
The court further directed “all the sites where the tin-roofing is supposed to take place shall be captured by still photography and videography prior to construction, and the whole process of construction shall be videographed and, later, the sites will be again captured after the construction has taken place. The videography shall not be accompanied by any audio data.”
The court by an order passed on November 21 had allowed repair/renovation of certain structures to be prevented from elements of nature with a caveat “while making the tin-roofing no additional construction shall be made except for the purpose of tin-roofing”.
The court noted that in terms of one of its orders in the preceding month it had allowed an applicant, Khillan Hut, to protect its existing structure with the help of tin-roof for saving it from the vagaries of nature.
The owner of the hut submitted that in the process of putting the tin-roof, the GDA had obstructed the exercise. The Authority contends that by taking advantage of this order, the applicant had raised unauthorized additional constructions.
For ascertaining the facts, the court deputed Registrar Judicial, Srinagar, to visit the spot and examine the site and, if necessary, examine any witness(s) there, both the applicant as also the GDA. The Registrar has been asked to file his report before the next date of hearing.
However, pending further consideration in the matter, the court allowed the applicant to complete the tin-roofing with a caution.
It said “in the said process of tin-roofing if any undue advantage had been taken by the applicant making any unauthorized additional construction it shall be liable to be demolished.”
It directed the applicant to give an undertaking that if in the name of tin-roofing any construction has been raised it shall be liable to be demolished.
The High Court had in February 2021 banned all types of constructions in Gulmarg besides prohibiting the cutting down of trees in the area.
