J&K officer held for 'abusing' position in bagging contracts

A senior official of the Lakes and Waterways Development Authority (LAWDA) was today arrested here for "abusing" his official position to obtain building permissions and allowing illegal constructions around Dal Lake, a State Vigilance Organisation (SVO) spokesman said.
Enforcement Inspector, LAWDA, Ishrat Aslam Darzi was held in a case registered last year, following an inquiry which revealed that he had got two separate building permissions in the name of his mother Farooqa Aslam and carried out the construction work in the Nishat area, on the banks of Dal Lake, in violation of norms, the spokesman added.
The officer got the building permissions in connivance with the officials concerned of LAWDA to construct garages, servants' quarters, a compound wall and a two-storey residential house at Gupt Ganga, he said, adding that the construction was carried out in violation of the parameters mentioned in the permissions.

"The officer, by abusing his official position in LAWDA (enforcement wing), has managed these huge constructions in violation and total disregard of the approved building permissions and conferred undue advantage upon himself and his mother. Further investigation is on," the spokesman said.
He said Darzi was also involved in another case registered at the Vigilance of Kashmir police station in 2015 regarding construction of buildings in violation of permissions around Dal Lake.
LAWDA, an autonomous body, was created by the Jammu and Kashmir government in 1997 to serve as a one-point agency to look after, manage and conserve the waterbodies and waterways in the state.

The core areas of its attention at the moment are the world famous Dal and Nigeen lakes in Srinagar.