The Block Development Officer (BDO) of Gund in the Sonamarg area of Ganderbal district has issued a building permit to a Punjab resident, violating High Court orders and the Sonamarg Master Plan, according to a report by Daily Excelsior.
Farooq Ahmad Baba, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Sonamarg Development Authority (SDA), has called for an inquiry into the BDO’s unauthorized action. Following this, the government transferred the BDO, assigning Additional Deputy Commissioner Ganderbal, Gulzar Ahmad, additional responsibilities as CEO of the SDA.
Last week, CEO Baba wrote a letter (CEO/SDA/2024/484-85 dated 17-05-2024) to the Director of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), requesting an investigation into the building permit granted by the BDO Gund to Charanpreet Singh Grewal, son of Gurender Singh Grewal, a resident of Model Town, Ludhiana, Punjab. The permit, issued under order No: PYT/SM/19 dated 22-02-2024, allowed Grewal to construct a second storey of a residential house on his land in Halqa Panchayat Sonamarg-A.
However, the BDO’s permission was for the second floor of a non-existent building, exceeding his authority and defying High Court directives. CEO Baba’s letter highlighted that the BDO had no jurisdiction to issue such a permit and that no ground floor had been constructed on the specified land.
This building permission was granted despite a High Court order (dated 27-03-2023) prohibiting construction in the SDA area. According to the DEERS report, the built-up area of the Sonamarg tourist resort exceeded 78 hectares, surpassing the 50-hectare limit outlined in the Master Plan 2005-25.
To accommodate more hotel and infrastructure construction in the eco-fragile tourist resort, the Chairman of the Building Operations Controlling Authority (BOCA) for the SDA formed a committee last year to counter the DEERS report. However, a report based on satellite imagery, as requested by the High Court, confirmed the DEERS findings, showing the built-up area in Sonamarg exceeded the permissible limit, contradicting BOCA’s claims.
In an affidavit submitted to the High Court in February last year, the former CEO of SDA, Mushtaq Ahmad Rather, also stated that no new constructions could be allowed in Sonamarg.